Brown stew chicken
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, approx 1.2kg
- 1 white onion, halved and thinly sliced
- thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp ground pimento (also known as allspice)
- 5 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 tbsp all-purpose seasoning
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
- 500ml chicken stock
Method
- STEP 1
Quarter the chicken, remove the wings and separate the legs and thighs, then cut each breast into three pieces. (You can keep the carcass chilled to make stock another day.)
- STEP 2
Season the chicken with the pimento, onion, all purpose seasoning, soy sauce, 1 tsp black pepper and 1½ tsp salt.
- STEP 3
Add the sugar to a large pan and cook over a medium heat. Wait until the sugar starts to melt, keeping an eye on it as it starts to bubble and darken. Once it’s dark brown and has gone just beyond the smell of caramel, add the chicken pieces, shaking off as much of the onion as possible.
- STEP 4
Cook the chicken in batches to brown all over and remove to a pan while you cook the next batch. Once all the chicken is browned, remove from the pan and add the onion, garlic, ginger, spring onion, thyme and a pinch of salt, scraping the bowl to remove any trace of spices. Cook for 5-8 mins until the onion is soft, then return the chicken to the pan. Stir well and add the stock, scotch bonnet and tomato ketchup and top up with 100ml water. Put a lid on and cook for 20 mins. Remove the lid, add the red pepper and cook for another 20-25 mins until the sauce has thickened and the chicken has cooked through. Remove the scotch bonnet and discard, taste for seasoning and serve with rice.
