captain country chicken recipeHere’s a super yummy recipe that has long since been a favourite of mine. Why? Because: It’s inexpensive to make; It’s fuss free enough to have mid week;  Everyone gobbles it up without fuss (there’s a picky eater in my house whom I love dearly, but who makes me tear my hair out);  It can feed the masses (I cooked it once for a family gathering of 20 people, no worries), or if you don’t feed the masses, it’s even more delicious the next day as leftovers for lunch, or better still, dinner (I love a leftover friendly meal that means I can have a night off cooking). Convinced that you should have it for dinner one night this week yet?

Captain Country Chicken is essentially a curried chicken and rice dish that’s (apparently) really popular in the Southern US. Any readers from the Southern US that can verify this?! I first stumbled across this recipe by the matriarch of New Zealand home cooks, Dame Alison Holst. Below is a ‘Lou Free Styled’ version of her classic.

Captain Country Chicken Recipe

Serves 6
12 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons of flavourless oil (vegetable/canola/rice bran)
1 large brown onion, diced into large pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green capsicum, diced
1 red capsicum, diced
1 can of tomatoes (whole or diced)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons curry powder (to taste. NB, I don’t use anything fancy, just Gregg’s or Masterfoods!)
1/2 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
1/2 cup raisins or currants (optional)
1/2 cup toasted slivered or sliced almonds
Rice – cooked to serve (any kind – we alternate between white or brown – or cauliflower rice!)

  • In a shallow dish combine flour, salt and pepper.
  • Coat the chicken in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess flour and place the chicken on a large plate.
  • Heat the butter and the oil in a large frying pan.  When the pan is hot, add the chicken and brown over a high heat, turning the chicken so it is brown all over (you mat need to do this in batches depending on the size of your frying pan). Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside (NB: The chicken should just be brown – we don’t want it cooked all the way through at this point).
  • Using the same frying pan (don’t clean it!), lower the heat and add onion, garlic and capsicum.  Cook, stirring continuously, for 3-4 minutes (don’t let the veges go brown, you just want the onion to be transparent and the capsicums to soften)
  • Next add to the tomato/capsicum mixture: Tomatoes, brown sugar* curry powder, thyme and raisins.
    (*I know sugar is a dirty word at the moment, but don’t be tempted to skip this, it takes all the acidity out of the tomatoes and balances the sauce beautifully).
  • Cover the frying pan and turn the heat down low and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes give it a good stir, turn the chicken over and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes (or until the chicken juices run clear).
  • Serve on rice (mashed spuds are good too) and sprinkle with toasted almonds (we had run out of almonds, hence they aren’t shown in my photo… I used parsley instead!)

For feeding the masses (i.e. If you double the recipe):

  • Brown all the chicken off and place it in a large roasting dish. Continue to prepare the remaining ingredients (tomato mixture etc) then pour this over the chicken.  Cover with tin foil and bake at 180 degrees for half an hour. Then uncover, turn the chicken and cook for another 15 minutes.

 

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