Brown Stew Chicken Recipe
Brown stew chicken recipe is a spicy and sweet Jamaican stewed chicken that is made from a combination of different spices and herbs that all come together for a flavorful chicken stew. With the aroma of fresh thyme, ginger, garlic, spring onions, and peppers; you can rest assured that this will be one of your favorite Jamaican food.
Servings 8 people
Calories 289kcal
Ingredients
- 1 kg of Chicken pieces - you can use boneless chicken thighs or any part of chicken of choice.
- ¼ cup of chopped scallions
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper - slit into two halves to release the heat. The more the heat you like, the more the scotch bonnets.
- ½ tsp of ground allspice - you can use pimento seeds
- 2 whole red bell peppers - sliced into strips
- 1 tbsp browning sauce commonly known as "browning". It increases the flavor and also adds color to the brown stew chicken.
- 2 whole green bell peppers - also cut into strips
- 4 minced garlic cloves
- 1 small grated ginger
- ½ cup of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp of paprika powder
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar
- 1 tbsp of all-purpose seasoning
- 1 tbsp of chicken bouillon cube crushed
- 3 tbsp of tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp of salt
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 cup of chopped onions
- ½ cup of vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken by combining the seasonings, herbs, and spices. To the bowl containing the chicken, add the black pepper, salt, chicken bouillon powder, all-purpose seasoning, and allspice. Also, add paprika powder, and browning sauce. Mix everything together to combine.
- Go in with the minced garlic cloves, grated ginger, chop onions, red bell pepper, fresh sprigs of thyme, and green bell pepper. You can add half of the red and green bell peppers and then used half later.
- Once you added all the ingredients needed for the marinade, mix all to coat and combine with the chicken nicely.
- Once you added all the ingredients needed for the marinade, mix all to coat and combine with the chicken nicely. Now, you can allow it to sit for an hour for the ingredients to be absorbed by the chicken or you can marinate it overnight. The longer it is marinated the tastier your Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken will be.
- Place a pan on the heat and add some vegetable oil to the pan. About 1/2 a cup of olive oil can do.
- When the oil is heated, add the marinated chicken pieces to it. Remember, to shake off the excess ingredients attached to the chicken especially the onions, red and green bell peppers because they may be burnt even before the chicken turns brown.
- After, shaking off the excess ingredients used for the marinade, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil and fry until it is brown on one side. Turn over to the other side and fry as well until it is also brown. This should take about 5 minutes each, on medium heat.
- After browning the chicken, remove it from the oil and place it on a plate, and keep aside. Reduce the oil in the pan to about 3 tbsp and then reduce the heat to low. Now, add the remaining marinade used for the chicken into the pan together with your chopped tomatoes and stir fry for about 2 minutes until the garlic and onions are fragrant.
- Next, go in with 1 scotch bonnet; make sure you slit the scotch bonnet pepper into two in order to release the heat into your Jamaican brown stew chicken. Add the tomato ketchup and brown sugar; then stir to combine. Cover the pot and allow the tomatoes to cook until they are wilted.
- After 5 minutes of cooking the stew, the tomatoes should have wilted; now, return the fried chicken into the stew and then add 1 cup of water into the stew. The water helps in further cooking of the chicken to ensure it is soft.
- Also, add the remaining red and green bell peppers to your Jamaican brown stew chicken; this adds color because the initial peppers used would have been wilted.
- You can taste and adjust any ingredients or salt at this point. Cover and allow the stew to cook for about 30 minutes. This allows some water to evaporate and so helps to thicken the stew a bit.
Video
Notes
The brown sugar adds extra brown color to the stew chicken and also removes the sour taste of the fresh tomatoes used, making your Jamaican brown stew chicken tasty and not tangy or sour. If you notice the brown stew chicken is sour, it is because you didn't add brown sugar. You can use normal white sugar to remove tanginess from curry or stew recipes; there are many other ways of removing sour taste from soups, stews, or curries you can check this article.