10 Trini Chicken Recipes You Will Love
There is no denying Trinbagonians love their chicken. So, here are a few Trini chicken recipes that you can make at home to satisfy that craving.
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#1 Fried chicken
The most popular fast food in T&T, hands down, is KFC. It’s a favorite for everyone with its extra spiciness that you won’t find in other parts of the world. It is flavored to our taste and the lines will tell you the same.
I prefer seasoning my chicken with green seasoning for a couple hours before dipping in whisked eggs and ground Crix. Sometimes, I’ll add a rosemary branch or chili pepper to the oil when frying for additional flavor.
But, for fried chicken that reminds you more of KFC, check out this video from Davidsbeen here.
#2 Stew chicken
Stew chicken is another Trini favorite, especially for lunch. It goes great alongside fried rice, macaroni pie, callaloo, chunky veggies or dhal and rice.
To make a simple stew chicken, add oil and brown sugar to a pot and leave until the sugar caramelizes. Then, add well seasoned chicken pieces and cook until dry. Add water after for more gravy. Try my stew chicken recipe here.
#3 Curry chicken
Curry chicken goes best with Indian food like roti or dhal and rice. The curry here is not the same as the curries from India. This one is a blend of coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, fennel, mustard and chilies and you can find it on Amazon here.
You can either add the curry powder to the marinade or patch the powder with aromatics separately, before adding the seasoned chicken pieces. Cook until dry before adding more water for your preferred gravy consistency. You can also add in chickpeas (channa), potatoes, and even coconut milk. Try my curry chicken recipe.
#4 Curry stew
Curry stew chicken is a fusion between African and Indian flavors that work so well together. There are smokey, slightly sweet flavors from the browning and earthy, spicy flavors from the curry.
To make curry stew chicken, clean and season the meat with garlic, ginger, chadon beni, salt, pepper, and curry powder. Sometimes ketchup, cumin powder, and soy sauce are added to the raw meat. Leave to marinate for a few hours and then follow the steps for making stew chicken: caramelize the brown sugar in hot oil, then add the seasoned meat, cook down until dry before adding more water for gravy.
#5 Baked chicken
Baked chicken is another favorite. You can bake a whole bird, or large pieces or chicken breast. All baked chicken recipes start with cleaning and seasoning the meat with chadon beni, garlic, salt, pepper and ginger plus other herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, and more.
Try my whole baked chicken recipe. The bird was butterflied, seasoned, buttered, and baked at 425°F for 45 minutes.
#6 BBQ chicken
BBQ chicken is a favorite for weekends and family limes (get-togethers). And everyone has their own unique recipe.
Hubby usually makes the BBQ sauce by boiling these ingredients together until it bubbles and thickens: store-bought BBQ sauce (we like honey BBQ), ketchup, green seasoning with chadon beni, garlic and ginger, pepper, rosemary (including the branch) and a bottle of beer.
The chicken can be steamed beforehand or placed raw on the grill and left to cook before brushing with the prepared BBQ sauce. I have a photo, but haven’t done a recipe yet for the blog.
#7 Chicken pelau
This one-pot, chicken, rice and veggies dish is a Trini lunch favorite. It’s great as a stand alone, but also goes well with salad, coleslaw, avocado slices and boiled plantains.
Chicken pelau starts off in a similar way to stew chicken. Brown sugar is added to hot oil and left to caramelize before well seasoned chicken pieces are added and cooked down until dry. Then, pigeon peas, rice, carrots and other veggies are added with water and coconut milk. When the rice is soft and the liquid has mostly absorbed, the chicken pelau is done. Here’s my tasty chicken pelau recipe.
#8 Chicken roti
More often bought than made at home, chicken roti is another popular lunch favorite. The meat here is curried bone-in chicken cooked with aloo (potatoes) to form a very thick filling. The filling is placed in the center of a cooked dhalpuri roti, which is a yellow split peas stuffed roti, and the roti is wrapped to form a tight square. Sometimes, pumpkin talkari, mango talkari and bhagi (spinach) can also be added before wrapping.
It is incredibly tasty. Check out this fun 103FM video:
#9 Grilled chicken
Grilled chicken is one of my favorite ways to cook chicken breast. The grill marks and grilling in general add a really tasty, smoky flavor to the meat. I usually use a cast iron grill pan when making recipes like these.
Try this pan grilled chicken breast recipe. Prepare the chicken in the same way by cleaning and seasoning with chadon beni, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. I usually flatten the meat before grilling for about 15 minutes.
#10 Geera chicken
Geera chicken is most often used as cutters or small, stand-alone sides to be enjoyed when drinking alcohol and hanging out (or what we call liming). Geera refers to cumin and the powder is used to season the chicken pieces (especially chicken neck) alongside the typical Caribbean green seasoning. Onion, garlic, pepper and other herbs are sauteed before the chicken is added and cooked until dry. This dish is better spicy!
Check out this eatahfood video:
What are your favorite Trini chicken recipes? Let me know in the comments.
