Jerk Chicken with Coconut Rice & Fried Plantain (Notting Hill Carnival Style)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the jerk paste: roughly chop scotch bonnet chillies (remove seeds if you want less heat), roughly chop fresh coriander stalks and leaves, slice spring onions, peel garlic and roughly chop, peel and roughly chop fresh ginger, juice the limes. Put the chillies, coriander, spring onions, garlic cloves, fresh ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, light soft brown sugar, ground allspice, dried thyme, ground cinnamon, sea salt, black pepper and 30 ml vegetable oil in a blender or food processor and blitz to a coarse, spreadable paste.

2. 2

   Coat the chicken: pat the chicken thighs dry with kitchen paper, then rub the jerk paste all over and under the skin where possible. Put the thighs in a shallow container or resealable bag, cover and refrigerate to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours (ideally overnight).

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C conventional. Arrange the marinated chicken on an oven tray, skin side up, leaving space between pieces so they roast rather than steam. Roast for 35 minutes.

4. 4

   Finish under a hot grill to get carnival-style char: turn the oven to the grill setting and grill the thighs for 4 minutes each side or until the edges are nicely charred. Watch them closely to avoid burning.

5. 5

   Rest the chicken for 5 minutes on a board, loosely covered with kitchen paper.

6. 6

   Start the coconut rice and peas: finely dice the brown onion and crush one garlic clove. Heat 15 ml vegetable oil in a saucepan over a medium hob heat and sweat the onion and garlic for about 4 minutes until soft but not coloured.

7. 7

   Add the long-grain rice to the pan and stir for 1 minute to coat the grains. Pour in the tinned coconut milk and 300 ml water, add the drained tinned kidney beans, fresh thyme sprigs and 1 tsp sea salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for 18 minutes.

8. 8

   Remove the rice from the heat and leave, covered, for 10 minutes to steam and finish cooking.

9. 9

   While the rice rests, fry the plantain: peel the ripe plantains and slice on the diagonal into 1 cm thick slices. Heat 30 ml vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium hob heat and fry the slices for about 2–3 minutes each side until golden and caramelised. Drain briefly on kitchen paper.

10. 10

    Serve: spoon coconut rice and peas onto plates, top with a couple of jerk chicken thighs, add 3–4 plantain slices, scatter torn fresh coriander and sliced spring onions, and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over.

Tips

• Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper before coating — dry skin crisps up better in the oven.
• Wear gloves while handling scotch bonnet chillies and remove seeds to tame the heat without losing flavour.
• If you don’t have a blender, finely chop the chillies, garlic, ginger and herbs and mix thoroughly with the dry spices.
• Do not lift the lid while the rice simmers — the trapped steam finishes the rice perfectly.
• Make the jerk paste up to 48 hours ahead and keep refrigerated; it will deepen in flavour.

Substitutions

• scotch bonnet chillies → bird's eye chillies, same quantity

  Stays close

• soy sauce → tamari, same quantity (gluten-free)

  Stays close

• tinned kidney beans → tinned pigeon peas, same quantity

  Stays close

• tinned coconut milk → reduced-fat coconut milk, same quantity (less rich texture)

  Noticeably different

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

810

Calories

45 g

Protein

85 g

Carbs

32 g

Fat

7 g

Fibre

14 g

Sugar

820 mg

Sodium

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