Day 148: Saint Lucia and Curried Chicken

Good evening, Raffies!

Today, on my birthday, we are going to Saint Lucia and enjoying some nice curried chicken!
Enjoying my short getaway in Italy, I am laying by the pool and writing this post.

When I was looking for the recipe for Saint Lucia, I came was wondering why most Caribbean countries were serving curry as one of their national dishes. As it seems, most islands have Indian immigrants or immigrants from African countries, where curry is a common dish. The foods they brought with them were adapted to the ingredients that could be found on the islands. Other ingredients, like cumin, coriander and several other spices, have now become local. What is to be regarded as Caribbean food is actually a mixture of the culinary traditions from the different nations that came to for the present population of the islands and local ingredients. This is why you find curries, pakoras, samosas, roti and different chutneys. You can also find pasta, Palau and stews from Africa. Obviously, there has been quite a bit of fusion from different cultures and culinary traditions. The result is a melting pot of Indian, American, African, European (British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese..), Arab and Chinese cuisine.

This curried chicken is no exception, as you will find Indian spices and the American potato in this dish. The recipe is quite simple and the result is a delicious curry, for all the curry lovers out there:

500 g chicken breast
2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
1 c parsley, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
thyme
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp ketchup
salt
pepper

Start by cutting the chicken into pieces and seasoning it with salt, garlic, thyme, some of the parsley, onions and ketchup. Fry the chicken in a large pan with butter until golden.
Add the curry powder and some water and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Now add the potatoes and the celery and cook for about 15-20 minutes. It could be that you need to add some more water, in order not to burn it. Once the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender, serve it on rice. You can also add some boiled eggs to the curry and some green beans.

As a big fan of curries, I really enjoyed this dish. It was simple, but delicious. And I had added even some homemade mango chutney to it. Delicious!

 Love, Raffi