Country Captain
A lowcountry Southern curried chicken dating back to the 1800s welcomes variations and tastes comfortingly old-fashioned.
Servings 4 to 6 people
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 slices bacon (optional—see Kitchen Notes)
- olive oil (if not using bacon)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (or red or… see Kitchen Notes)
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or diced or… see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 tablespoon curry powder (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1/2 cup dried currants (or raisins or... see Kitchen Notes)
- slivered almonds (or peanuts or… See Kitchen Notes)
- cooked white rice
Instructions
- Trim excess fat from chicken thighs and season thighs on both sides with salt, pepper and dried thyme.
- Put bacon in a cold, large sauté pan. Cook over medium-high heat, turning frequently, until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add oil, if needed (if your bacon did its fat-releasing job, you won’t need to—if you’re not using bacon, start with 2 tablespoons olive oil). Put chicken thighs into skillet, skin side down. Cook undisturbed until quite brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn chicken, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate.
- Drain all but 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil/chicken fat/bacon grease from pan. Add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic to pan, stirring to combine and coat everything with oil. cook, stirring often, for about 8 minutes. You want to soften the vegetables, but not brown them—reduce heat, if needed.
- Add tomatoes to pan, and sprinkle on curry powder and currants. Stir everything to combine, drizzling in a little water if tomatoes seem too thick. Crumble up bacon into pan. Nestle chicken thighs into the mixture skin side up. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover pan. Cook until chicken is cooked through and flavors have combined, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Spoon cooked rice into shallow bowls. Top with tomato/vegetable sauce and a chicken thigh. Sprinkle slivered almonds over each bowl and serve.
Kitchen Notes
Bacon or no? Some recipes call for it, some don’t. Some use oil, some use butter. We like what bacon adds overall, but your choice.
Bell pepper, what color? Most recipes call for green bell pepper, but some call for red—or yellow. We mixed it up, half green (to use some on hand) and half red, because we like its flavor.
You say tomato… We used crushed tomatoes, but use what you have on hand, including diced or whole tomatoes that you mash up before adding. Marion's 1975 Joy of Cooking calls for stewed tomatoes, in keeping with older recipes.
Curry powder. Use what you have on hand. Or your favorite. We are currently really liking the Singapore Citrus Curry Blend from The Spice House. It packs a nice lemony brightness.
Currants? Raisins? Most recipes call for the former, but suggest raisins as a perfectly good substitute. You can also use chopped prunes, dates or apricots. You do want those occasional sweet bites, so do use one of them.
Slivered almonds? Sliced? Peanuts? Slivered almonds are the most regularly called for nut garnish. As you can see, we managed to get sliced. One recipe specifies peanuts, though. Use whatever nuts you have, for a nice little crunch and nutty flavor.
And the article that got this party started? It's Country Captain Deserved a Comeback, by Nneka M. Okona, published on TASTE, the online food magazine.