Reef chicken
Known as the ‘nature island of the Caribbean’, Dominica is a place I long to visit. Mostly covered in rainforest, it also has hot springs, volcanoes and rare flora and fauna. I know all that from spending far too long on Google lusting at photos, but its spirit I know from the stories I’ve heard from friends whose mums were born there. Dominica has the largest community of Caribs, now known as the Kalinago people, in the region. These are the survivors of colonialism: first came the French (the Spanish deemed the place ‘too hard to control’), whose influence is still evident in the island’s food and place names, and then came the British, whose cultural hangover lingers. The surviving peoples are, I think, what give the island its majesty.
You might think there’s a lot going on in this recipe, but the mango chutney and rum glaze make it exactly the kind of food that gets me excited. I prefer to use fresh ginger and garlic and molasses sugar, as they give richness, but you can easily swap in fresh for ground spices and use brown sugar. This is so good wrapped in a roti (hyperlink to her recipe), with Sweet Tangy Coleslaw (see page 112) and a touch of yoghurt.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 50g of molasses sugar, or dark brown soft sugar
- 4 tbsp of dark rum
- 2 tbsp of lime juice
- 2 tsp ground white pepper
- 25g of fresh ginger, grated, or 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- lemon zest, from 1/4 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 3 tbsp of mango chutney
- flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped, to serve (optional)
Method
Place the chicken in a large bowl and massage the salt and black pepper into and under the skin. Set aside
- 8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
In a mortar, mix together the molasses or brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of the rum, along with the lime juice, white pepper, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, lemon zest and garlic, pounding a little to make a paste. Massage this into the chicken, including under the skin, then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no longer than 24 hours
- 50g of molasses sugar, or dark brown soft sugar
- 4 tbsp of dark rum
- 2 tbsp of lime juice
- 2 tsp ground white pepper
- 25g of fresh ginger, grated, or 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- lemon zest, from 1/4 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, grated
About 30 minutes before you intend to cook, remove the meat from the fridge to bring it up to room temperature and preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6. Place the chicken, skin side up, in a shallow baking tin and bake it for 45 minutes, or until the juices run clear
Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together the mango chutney with the remaining rum until combined
- 3 tbsp of mango chutney
Baste the skin of the cooked chicken with the rum-laced chutney, then return it to the oven for a further 3–4 minutes, until the chutney is warm. Or, if you want extra-crispy skin, heat your grill to high and place the glazed chicken under the grill, leaving it until the skin starts to caramelise. Serve sprinkled with roughly chopped parsley, if you wish
- flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped, to serve (optional)
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