Country Captain Chicken … Indian curry meets Lowcountry cuisine. Simply known as Country Captain, this is a Southern icon you may have never tasted.
Often found at tables from Charleston to Savannah, it’s a delicious Southern curry chicken simmered in tomato sauce, a simple layered dish with vibrant spices that result in incredible flavors
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It comes with sliced almond toppings, raisins, streams, toasted coconut or crumbled bacon, and is always served with a plate full of fluffy rice. An Indian legacy from the British Raj to the Western world. The story goes that the captain of the country Chicken probably crossed the Atlantic at the helm of some ship with the captain of that ship from exotic lands. Read…
Encountering the country’s chicken captain is very high if you frequent some local restaurants in the Lowcountry region of the southern United States. This is a slightly spicy chicken dish stewed in a Creole sauce of onion, garlic, peppers and tomatoes, but with the exotic addition of curry powder.
It’s one of those legendary regional classics that many natives grew up eating all the time or had never heard of before
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What is Country Captain Chicken Country
Captain Chicken? Country
Captain Chicken is a traditional chicken recipe from the Lowcountry region of the southern United States, but it has its roots in India’s colonial past. The
dish is believed to have originated in the Indian subcontinent during the 18th century as a chicken curry prepared by Indian cooks for English officials during the British Raj, the colonial period when Britain ruled India. The dish traveled with sailors returning to England, and then crossed the Atlantic to the seaports of Charleston and Savannah.
The country’s captain chicken became a popular dish in home kitchens throughout the southern United States. It was served to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Warm Springs, Georgia, and became one of his favorite dishes.
This dish was a staple of Junior League cookbooks in the 1950s and 1960s. It soon became a popular entertainment dish for military wives, because it could be prepared in advance and kept warm, giving hostesses time to socialize with their guests. Military families have to move frequently, and the recipe for the country’s captain chicken traveled with them to new military bases across the country.
Not surprisingly, such a recipe attracted American cooks in the early 20th century, as exoticism was very fashionable. Curry powder was quite fashionable, and “chicken curry” was a popular recipe. You will find many curry chicken recipes very similar to the captain of the country that come from that time.
Ingredients for Country Captain
Chicken
- Chicken – Mostly whole chopped chicken, or bone in chicken like thighs or thighs, is used for a deep flavor
- For the base – onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, oil and butter
- Spices – Curry powder, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Flour – for thickening. Nuts
- – raisins and almonds.
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How to make Country Captain Chicken
This is a
dish where chicken is stewed in a tasty sauce seasoned with exotic spices. But first, the chicken crunches by frying quickly in oil and butter to get the beautiful color on the skin.
Combine flour, paprika, cayenne and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover the chicken thighs on both sides with the flour mixture, shaking off the excess. Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin down, and cook until well browned and crispy on one side, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 2 minutes. Transfer the thighs to a plate, reserving the drips in the Dutch oven.
Add chopped onions, peppers, parsley to the same pot and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, curry powder, black pepper, nutmeg, and remaining butter and salt. Cook, stirring often, until onion is tender. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the chicken thighs, keeping the skin side on top. Add the raisins and simmer covered for 45 minutes to an hour, until the chicken falls off the tender bone. Stir occasionally.
You can adjust the consistency of the curry by adding little chicken broth if you like the thinner sauce. For a thicker sauce, cook the last 5-10 minutes uncovered.
Garnish with sliced almonds and serve immediately
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What to serve Country Captain
With Of course, with a plate of fluffy white rice. It is very common and loved throughout the Lowcountry, as rice was a staple crop in the old days throughout the South.
We can see that it goes well with any Indian bread like naan, rotis and parathas
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Try
- other ingredients like shredded bacon, toasted coconut, or currants instead of raisins. In the case of bacon, you can cook the bacon at first and start the curry in drips of bacon instead of oil and butter.
- Add other vegetables like peas, carrots or even potatoes in the curry.
- Play with spices like adding cinnamon or garam masala powder for a slightly different flavor profile.
How to store leftovers
As with any other curry or stew, the captain of the country will enhance your flavors while staying in your refrigerator for a few days. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days for best taste.
This also freezes well in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Simply thaw and reheat it over the stove until it warms up completely, stirring occasionally.
Wouldn’t you love to make this Country Captain Chicken in your kitchen? Believe me, it’s instantly very adorable. It’s your chicken and sauce, but a very tasty sauce.
You’ve eaten enough shrimp and grits and hoppin’ John from the South, now try this Lowcountry classic. Give this dish the fame it deserves by making it popular with your friends and family.
Tell them the story of this exotic dish during a meal. Thanks to that certain captain who was smart enough to take his favorite food to distant lands in some forgotten time… Country Captain Chicken.
Would you help GypsyPlate spread this recipe around the world? Do it tonight and share it with your friends and family, and all over the internet… Have fun!
Country Captain Chicken, in our gypsy dish… enjoy!
Try these other great curry recipes! Chicken MasalaSri Lankan curryJapanese beef curryJamaican curryTini chicken curryKormaVegetables Pork vindaloo
