Ingredients
- Selina: Sure. Here’s my recipe for Chicken Jamaica:
- Using boneless chicken, cut into bite size chunks. Put in a bowl and coat with soya sauce (Jamaicans use “Browning”), and dried herbal seasonings like thyme, laurel, ginger, garlic, and pimento (allspice, very important!).
- I dice up potatoes and Jamaican pumpkin. Chop up a good amount of onion, carrot and sweet pepper, and of course, some hot pepper, like country pepper (habanero).
- Saute the chicken in hot oil, move around till browned, add onion and some chopped garlic, stir until onion is softened, add water or stock, I like to use the water from the potatoes, and then add the carrot, pumpkin and potato.
- The pumpkin and potato will cook down to very soft to thicken the gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and if you have it, one whole scotch bonnet pepper, unpierced. If you like it spicy, cut up some scotch bonnet pepper to taste,
- Add a stick of fresh thyme, or a pinch of dried thyme, you can add more dried seasonings to taste. Don’t forget a pinch of allspice! It’s actually pimento, a seed that grows on the pimento tree in Jamaica.
- Simmer until the gravy cooks down to a nice consistency, taste and correct seasonings, remove whole scotch bonnet if used and put aside to use on the table if you like. Serve with rice or potatoes. Mmmmm!