Creamy Jamaican Jerk Chicken

I am incredibly impressionable. We went out for dinner to the new Caribbean restaurant recently and I immediately came home and started researching Caribbean recipes. Now, for my tastes there is a lot of fruit kicking about in their savoury recipes. This is most definitely NOT in my wheelhouse. Like pineapple on a pizza, mango in a curry is not acceptable to me.

But, I like lots of other aspects – the bbq charred aspect, coconut EVERYWHERE, rice with all kinds of stuff in it.. I’m well up for all of that. Also, a lot of this style of food was “on the bone” which is fine and delicious, but I am a creature of habit and I usually default to cooking with chicken breasts. But if you have chicken thighs around, feel free to marinade them instead!

Now, for the rice part, I know traditionally you have kidney beans in it, but I didn’t have any on hand, and I don’t really like them anyway. So I added some extra veggies, and forgot about the beans. feel free to add them if you like them, this is a very laid back style of cooking, just go with what feels right.

Serves 2

Ingredients for the Jerk Chicken

• 1 leek, chopped roughly
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ onion
• 1 chilli
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• ½ tsp turmeric
• Juice 1/2 lime
• 1 tbsp soy
• 1 tsp veg oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tsp allspice
• 2 chicken breasts

Ingredients for rice

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• ½ bunch scallions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ pepper, diced small
• ½ tsp tsp allspice
• 400ml coconut milk (minus the 2 tbsp)
• 125ml water

Method

Begin with the chicken. Combine all the ingredients for the jerk chicken (apart from the chicken!) in a food processor and blitz until you get a chunky paste.

Cut the chicken breasts in half and score the flesh. Tip the aromatic marinade over the chicken and allow to marinade for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in the fridge. 

When you’re ready, place on a lined baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees and cook for 35 minutes.

Now you can get a start on the rice. Rinse the hell out of it under the tap.

Heat the coconut oil, and fry off the scallions, pepper and garlic for a few minutes. Stir over the allspice, then tip in the rice and season. Give a quick stir, and then pour in the coconut milk and water.

Bring to the boil and then let simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve together and enjoy!