Curry is a contribution to Guyanese cuisine by the Indian population of Guyana and is a fundamental dish in our food culture. Chicken curry is a typical curry you’ll find on the table for weekend or weeknight dinner, parties and other gatherings. It is generally made by simmering medium sized cut up pieces of chicken in a sauce made from a blend of madras curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, and geera. The chicken is first cooked with the spices until it dries onto the meat. Water is added to make the gravy or surwah as some Guyanese people call it, along with whole spices to heighten the flavors of the ground spices. It boils together to form a beautiful pot of succulent meat packed with flavor and typically served with roti or rice.
Every Guyanese person has that one auntie or uncle in their family who makes “the best” curry and in my family, it’s my mother. Mom’s curry always had the perfect balance of spice and flavor. It was never watery and always boiled down to the right amount of gravy. It was the type of curry that made you take your finger and swipe it across the plate to lick up every last bit. She frequently served her chicken curry with dhal and rice or homemade dhal puri.
Mom’s curry turned me into what many West Indians call a “curry mouth”- someone who loves curry for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Why it’s important to bounjay your chicken for a great tasting curry
Bounjay also bunjay, stems from the Hindi word bhunao and is used to describe a style of cooking. Bhunao involves a technique of stir frying and sautéing at the same time. In this case you’d sauté the onions, garlic, pepper, and spices, then add the meat and stir fry it- moving it around consistently so the spices can coat the meat. The heat is regulated during this process from low in the beginning to medium high later on.
As the cooking process continues, the chicken will release its own water. Once the water simmers down the spice paste will begin to coat the meat and start to look dry. Essentially you are searing the the meat with the spice mixture. This is the part Guyanese refer to as bounjay. This step is what imparts great flavor to the curry because of the Maillard reaction.
The bottom line is, do not skip this step. Bounjay your chicken.
So what makes a good curry for me?
- The gravy must be thick, not watery.
- It must contain the right amount of salt.
- It must have a spice balance- good ratio of masala to curry powder.
- The chicken must have color (not white and washed-out looking).
- The curry must not be overwhelmed with too many unnecessary herbs and spices.
- The masala and curry powder spices must be fresh and great quality. It makes all the difference.
If I am having it with rice, I prefer it without dhal-I really like to taste the curry. I wait until I’ve eaten all the rice to enjoy the meat on its own and my favorite piece is the neck. If I’m having it with roti, I’ll break off pieces and scoop up more curry than the roti can handle. Oh! And how could I forget- there always needs to be a sprinkle of pepper sauce on my plate! This is what I call my comfort food. How do you enjoy your curry?
Make seasoning base for the curry
In a blender or food processor combine one medium onion, one head of garlic, leaves of a few sprigs of thyme, and desired amount of wiri wiri or scotch bonnet peppers.
You will have extra seasoning left over. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week and use to season other meats, seafood, soups, or rice. You may also parcel this in a silicone ice cube tray and freeze for future use.
WASH YOUR CHICKEN, THEN WASH YOUR COUNTER
When my mom would buy chicken from the halal meat store in Queens, NY, they would roast the skin of the chicken and chop it up in curry/stew size pieces. Roasting the chicken skin helped burn off any small feathers, but mostly gave the meat another layer of flavor when cooked. When she brought the chicken home, she would “wash” it with a little bit of flour, salt, and vinegar, or lime and water. She’d let it sit for ½ hr to 45 minutes then rinse it off piece by piece and pat it dry. This method of cleaning the meat is a way to remove any slime off the chicken and tenderize it. Acid from the citrus or vinegar helps to break down fibers in the meat.
I know washing meat is a contentious topic, but I’m here to say that when I wash meat I do everything to ensure contamination isn’t an issue in my kitchen. I make sure there is nothing else in the sink or nearby and there aren’t any dishes in the dish drainer either. After I’ve washed, pat dried, and seasoned my meat, I cover it with aluminum foil and place the bowl on the stovetop. The next step is to wipe everything down with an antibacterial cleaning product.
In a bowl, mix seasoning the seasoning. Add the masala, curry powder, and geera and form into a paste. She also adds turmeric here, but I did not get a picture. My mom makes her own masala mixture, but see below for a recommendation of brands you can buy at a West Indian grocery store.
Add 6 tablespoon oil to a cast iron pot, add masala mixture and fry 2-3 minutes until paste darkens and dries slightly. Be sure not to burn the paste or your curry will taste bitter. Turn frequently while frying.
Add chicken to the pot and stir to coat with masala-curry powder mixture. Add a small cinnamon stick and cloves here. Cover the pot and let chicken cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat stirring every once in a while. Remove lid and allow water from chicken to reduce.
Chicken will then start to look “dry” after 15-20min. It will look like the spice paste is seared onto the meat- this is the part where we bounjay the chicken. This step is what imparts the most flavor. Add salt and more hot pepper if desired. Mix it all up.
Once chicken has bounjayed, add enough boiling water to just cover the meat, tomato paste, potatoes. Stir and cover pot to allow potatoes to cook. Curry is done when liquid reduces by ⅓ and gravy looks thick.
Guyanese Chicken Curry
Juicy pieces of halal chicken cooked with garam masala, curry powder, and geera makes this Guyanese chicken curry finger-licking good. Serve with dhal and rice for a perfect meal!
Ingredients
Fresh seasoning
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- leaves of a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1-2 wiri wiri peppers or 1 small scotch bonnet pepper
- ¼ cup water
Chicken
- 4 lbs chicken, cut into large chunks, 3 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon fresh seasoning
- 1 teaspoon madras curry powder
- few pinches of salt
Masala paste
- 4 tablespoon fresh seasoning
- 4 tablespoon garam masala
- 3 tablespoon madras curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground geera (cumin)
- ⅓ cup water
Remaining ingredients for curry
- 6 tablespoon cooking oil
- 4-6 whole cloves
- 1 small skinny cinnamon stick about 2 inches (not pictured)
- 2 teaspoon salt (or salt to taste)
- A kettle ready with boiling water, as needed
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces
- Few pinches geera
- 1 scallion, finely sliced
Instructions
- Make the fresh seasoning: In a blender, combine onion, garlic, thyme leaves, pepper, and ¼ cup water. Blend until smooth and thick like a smoothie.
- Wash and clean chicken (see below). Remove excess pieces of fat, chop into 3-inch pieces. Pat dry with paper towel, set aside.
- Season the chicken: Add 2 tablespoon of the seasoning to chicken plus 1 teaspoon curry powder. Massage into meat, let it rest for ½ hour minimum. Store remaining seasoning in a container in fridge for use in another recipe.
- Make the seasoning paste: In a small bowl, mix 4 heaping tablespoon of the fresh seasoning, 4 tablespoon masala, 3 tsbp curry powder, ½ teaspoon geera, and ⅓ cup water into a paste.
- Fry masala paste: Heat a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat, add 6 tablespoon oil. Add masala-curry powder paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture is golden and no longer watery. Do not walk away from the stove during this step. If the masala paste sticks to the pot it will start to burn and result in a bitter-tasting curry.
- Bounjay the chicken: Add chicken to pot and stir to coat with masala-curry powder mixture. Add salt, cinnamon, and clove here. Cover pot and let chicken cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat stirring every once in a while. Chicken will spring its own water. Remove lid and allow water from chicken to reduce until there is only a little gravy. Let the masala dry cook onto the chicken.
- Add water and continue to cook the curry: At this point, add just enough boiling water to cover the chicken.
- Add tomato paste, and chopped potatoes, cover with lid.
- Let curry boil on medium-high heat until gravy has reduced by one-third and thickens to your desire, about 15 minutes or a little more.
- When curry is done, sprinkle a little geera on top and garnish with fresh scallions.
Notes
NOTES:
Make sure chicken has bounjayed (meat has been seared with the masala and looks dry) well before adding the boiling water. If water is added too soon, it will wash the masala off the chicken and you will end up with a watery curry.
Pat meat dry before adding seasoning. The meat will absorb the seasoning better.
Brands- these are the brands my mom has used in the past and yields a great taste:
Curry Powder - Chetty's or Lalah's
Garam Masala - Guyanese Pride or Maywah (Couldn't find an image)
HOW TO CLEAN MEAT:
When my mom would buy chicken from the halal meat store in Queens, they would roast the skin of the chicken and chop it up in curry/stew size pieces. Roasting the chicken skin gave it another layer of flavor when cooked. When she brought the chicken home, she would "clean" it with a little bit of flour, salt, vinegar or lime, and water. She'd let it sit for ½ hr to 45 minutes then rinse it off piece by piece and pat it dry. This method of "cleaning" the meat is a way to remove any slime, rank smell, or off taste that the chicken might have. This is the way we always cleaned meat, but feel free to use your own way.
Samantha Nandram says
OMG!!!! I'm getting so hungry looking at it!!! Yummy.
Sonia Somwar says
I'm salivating just looking at this. Can't wait to try it out.
Shelly says
We cook curry the same exact way! Great tutorial for those interested in learning. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sumali Barran says
I am a non Guyanese girl, married to a Guyanese guy for 13 years. I love to cook, and I have always tried to cook dishes from Guyana for my husband as I know he enjoys them more than any other food. So I have been cooking him chicken curry from day 1 as it was one of the easiest Guyanese dishes to learn how to make. And most times (at least I thought) it tasted pretty good! So after seeing this recipe of yours I thought, let me try this method of seasoning the chicken before hand and also adding tomato paste at the end. Alica, I must tell you…the curry came out amazing! My husband couldn’t get enough of it and raved and raved about how it tasted! Now my husband isn’t usually the type of guy who talks much about his meals, but just eat it. So as you can imagine, I was thrilled!
So thank you so much for this site! There is actually hardly or NO web sites OR cookbooks for Guyanese recipes, this site is amazing! I can tell that it must involve a lot work to do what you are doing….so hats off to you girl! Keep up the good work! I think you should publish a cook book of your own! All the very best in all your future endeavours and I look forward to enjoying many more delicious recipes on this site!
fariza says
Hi dear , I have been married for 7 years and I cant get this curry paste right. It is always tasting like too much of masala or curry powder. I GET SO FRUSTRATED! I found your site and hopefully I get it right this time . I really love any recipe that is made with curry.
Alica says
Hi Sumali,
That is wonderful that you cook your husband's cuisine and still learning new dishes. I, myself still have much to learn on how to cook certain Trinidadian dishes for my husband (since that's where he is from) so I know how you feel when you make something of his cuisine that he loves! I'm glad he enjoyed it. It does take a lot of time to cook the food, take photos, edit the photos, write a little entry, and put it all together. This is my hobby and I love doing it. As for a cookbook, I'm not sure yet, but who knows! Thanks for your kind words and for leaving a message!
Asif Hassan says
Hi Alicia
Your website is great, love it ! I will be making my first meal tomorrow (chicken curry)
You should develop an app too, I would definitely purchase it if you do.
Thank you.
Alica says
Hi Kiesh,
Welcome! I hope you enjoy the recipes and the site, thanks for stopping by 🙂
kiesh says
I am so excited my cousin told me about your blog! I can't wait to try out your recipes!
Alica says
Hi Debra,
Thank you so much for your kind words. I know exactly what you mean about cooking and not measuring. Our parents just never measured anything, just the way they did things. Hopefully one day we can see a book out of this, who knows what the future holds :). Thanks for stopping by, if you ever have any questions, please let me know!
Debra Rosrton says
I agree with all of the comments about you writing a book, your recipe and photos are amazing. I live in the U.K and only stumbled across your site as I was trying to find a recipe for roti for my Jamaican friend. I can cook it but have never measured any of my ingredients, I was born in Guyana and travel there often as I have a charity there. I am so pleased to have found your site and just wanted to thank you and encourage you!
Sarah Ramrup says
Thanks so much for posting this. I'm in university now and just attempted mom's chicken curry. This was a great guide to follow 🙂
Alica says
Hi Sarah,
That's wonderful! Hope you enjoyed it :). Thanks for stopping by the blog!
Claire Blanchard says
Hi Alica:) Thank you for sharing this awesome yummy yummy for my tummy curry chicken recipe:) My mom also makes an awesome curry chicken and its just not the same when I try other's but your mom's recipe is just like my mom's and she uses the same brands that your mom recommended:). It is like 10am in Toronto right now and I came across your recipe and my mouth is just watering like no tomorrow thinking of making this today for supper(LOL). I was born in Guyana but moved to Toronto,Canada when I was 5 years old and I am 37 now but honestly I never get tired of mom's Guyanese cooking because we were so blessed to have both her Indian and Chinese culture cooking growing up as my grandpa's family was from India and my grandma's family from China so mom being mixed was taught to cook all the yummy goodness recipe's being born and raised in Guyana her self where her family out of 13 kids grew there own veggies and chicken as my grandparents had a big property with loads of mango,coconut,cherry,
ginip and so many other fruits trees (not sure if this is how you spell it) that I can still taste and remember. I love your site and sharing your recipe's and as everyone suggested your book will be amazing when you get around to writing it:). All the best to you always and do not ever give up your passion and dream if it is writing the book cause sometimes you are closer to making that reality happen that you know:)Divine blessings always and thanks again Claire 🙂
Priya Khan says
I must say of all the sites i visited your site is the most detailed.Thank you(using your recipes as my guide-Learner in the kitchen)and great job 🙂
BrbKitchen314 says
My husband loves Guyanese chicken curry. I'm attempting to make this now, but somehow it is very watery..and I haven't even added any water yet, apart from what was in the onion mixture(not very much). Did all of this water come from the chicken? And now I'm afraid that the meat will be dry on the inside. I'm using chicken breasts. I don't know what to do and the chicken already looks about done. He's not going to trust me making this ever again. Is there anything that I can do?
Alica says
Hi there,
To answer your questions- yes the water in the beginning comes from the chicken and the water in the seasoning. During this step you must let all this water evaporate, do not close the lid. Leave it open for the water to evaporate so the spices can dry/sear onto the meat and keep it on med-high heat. Depending on how much chicken you add, you have to adjust how much water you add later on. If you are using only chicken breasts you'd have to reduce the water you add. How many pounds of chicken breast did you use?
D Stukes says
Hi Alica,
Your recipes and the setup of your site has got to be the best that I have seen. Your instructions are wonderfully clear. Your pictures are awesome and so helpful, and your recipes sound so authentic. I can't wait to try your curry recipe. I can't thank you enough for sharing this knowledge. I love, love, love indian and west indian food, especially curry! I am half American and half Jamaican with relatives that are all over the Caribbean spectrum, but I did not have the privilege of learning how to cook West Indian style. Still, I was born with an island palate, though I've never been to Jamaica and was raised on Southern cuisine. Now I don't feel stuck in a mystery about
how to cook a food that I love so much. Thank you so much.
Mary Brannigan says
Hi Alica,
Thank you so much for this wonderful post; I learned so much!. I grew up in the Caribbean, Belize to be precise and love all the food from that part of the world. I moved to the US as a teenager and lost touch with all the multicultural Caribbean foods of my youth. Fast forward several years and I a married to an Englishman. Because of the huge Indian influence in UK food and culture, I reconnected with Indian food. I always make East Indian curries but now that I work with a Guyanese lady, she challenged me to make a curry West Indian style. We usually share our curries at lunchtime so I will be keen to see what she thinks of my first attempt. I must say, the seasoning mix is fantastic! It's so much easier to whizz it all together instead of mincing and chopping. I can use it for so many other dishes as well. I'm going to put it in my dal and see how it turns out. I will make all my curries this way now! Another thing I learned about from your post is washing the chicken. All the Caribbean and Hispanic people I talk to do it this way and am mortified when I say I don't do it. Well, after doing it for this dish…..I will be doing it with all meats going forward. The stuff that came off was yucky
So again thank you for all the hard work and knowledge that goes into this site. I learned so much. 🙂
Mary
CharStar says
Bookmarking your site. Another Guyanese-American chick! Thanks!!
Devika says
Love this recipe! LOVE IT! I've made it a handful of times already and always get the best feedback from my husband. Thank you for taking the time to share this recipe.
tiffany poeraziff says
Tried this recipe and its amazing thank you sooo much
Dharas411 says
Alicia, I LOVE your recipes! Now, my son says our house smells yummy like Ammas house! I am so happy I found you …. stay with all of us we love that you share your talent with us!
Lukas Murphy says
Hi Alicia, I have a lot of Guyanese friends and have even traveled to Guyana. I love the food!!!! I asked them to teach me how to make Guyanese curry, but I could never make it like they do and gave up a while ago. I tried your recipe tonight and it came out fantastic! Your pictures guiding us through the steps was extremely helpful. A special thanks for explaining "bunjaying": That was the trick that I had never gotten. I am looking forward to trying your dad's pepperpot recipe next. Thanks again for sharing!
Alica says
Hi Lukas,
Glad I could be of help! That's fantastic that you've even visited Guyana, how exciting! If you ever have any questions about the recipes, feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks for your comments!
Morgan Rachel says
I must say this is most helpful, much more so than my b/f's mother, sweet as she is, didn't get into specifics of how she makes her amazing curries. His family is also from Guyana and dinner time at his house is like a religion in and of itself. Being a very-very new cook to the kitchen, I hope to be able to not only prepare dishes for myself, but for him and friends alike. Did I mention I'm totally addicted to her curry dishes? Lol! So this definitely helps a lot.
Vivi Williams says
Hey Alicia,
Whenever I cook curries my curry ratio is always off, and my curry comes out looking too dark or too light, but it taste fine at time. Do you have any tips to how much curry, masala and geera is needed depending on the type of curry? Also, my mom uses turmeric/dai in her curry, is it necessary to use that, I've seen that you didn't I corperate it.
cutchswife says
Where are you from?
cutchswife says
Is it possible to get your mom's Marsala recipe? I am interested to learn how to make it.
Moonage Daydream says
I'm from India and lived in Guyana almost forty years ago, and have been looking for a recipe for Guyanese Chicken Curry and Roti. This is it! I could never replicate the flavours with other brands of curry powder; obviously a West Indian provisions shop is the key. Thank you!
Samantha Yusaf says
I couldn't agree more with Sumali. Amazing job!
I'm going to try so many of your recipes! Thank you for doing this you did a fantastic job everything is so organized & helpful!
Unknown says
So thankful for this site! Now I can make all thr dishes i grew up with. Thank you thank you!
Edwards/Gomes says
Debora, what is your charity and where is it in Guyana?
Unknown says
Do you do curry goat the same way?
Ryan S says
Non-West Indian guy here who has been cooking West Indian curries for years and this is, hands down, the best recipe I have ever tried. Both the ingredients and method made for a superior tasting curry. I am so glad to have found this blog because I can now stop looking for "the" chicken curry recipe. Thanks!!!
Eye Salt says
When you say 2 heaping tbsp of seasoning for chicken what do you mean? What seasoning?
Anthony DeFreitas says
The season recipe that is detailed:
Seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped
1 head of garlic cloves, peeled
leaves of a few sprigs of fresh thyme
desired amount of wiri wiri pepper or scotch bonnet pepper
1/4 cup water
Yasmin Amico says
Guyanese style curry & roti. Yummy! My favorite dish!
Lucy says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I lived in Guyana for a year, and fell in love with the food. Since being back in the UK I've tried – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – to recreate some of the dishes I enjoyed there. Until following your recipe, I hadn't managed to cook something that transported me back to Guyana so totally. It tastes wonderful, and I love all the tips and facts you include. Will be trying many more recipes x
Kathy Rose says
Thank you so much for posting this yummy dish. I'm trying this tonight hope it comes as good as it looks on your picture ?
Unknown says
I can not wait to try this!! I am married to a Guyanese man for a year now and he only gets this food when his mom comes to town. I'm not used to these kinds of spices and was a lil nervous to try and cook him an authentic curry meal. But the way you break it down is amazing and I can't wait to surprise my husband!
Anthony DeFreitas says
Seasoning from the seasoning recipe listed:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 head of garlic cloves, peeled
leaves of a few sprigs of fresh thyme
desired amount of wiri wiri pepper or scotch bonnet pepper
1/4 cup water
Eye Salt says
When you say 2 heaping tbsp of seasoning what seasoning are you talking about?
Ryan S says
Non-West Indian guy here who has been cooking West Indian curries for years and this is, hands down, the best recipe I have ever tried. Both the ingredients and method made for a superior tasting curry. I am so glad to have found this blog because I can now stop looking for "the" chicken curry recipe. Thanks!!!
Unknown says
Alicia. That is an amazing recipe. Thank you so much for inspiring me that I can cook curry! I made it for a good friend of mine who's father is from Guyana and it was all gone in an hour or so. I was wondering if the recipe is good for smaller portions – usually it's just 2 of us eating and I'd be surprised if we go through 2 lbs of chicken in a 5 day period of so? I tried with 2 lbs and the flavor with the full amount of curry and masala mix seemed a little rich. Soooo good though! Once again thank you for sharing your culture and heritage in your blog.
Alica says
Hi there, glad to hear you enjoyed the curry! Unfortunately I wouldn't know how to scale it back for 2lbs. It's something you'll have to experiment with. The only suggestion I have that has worked for me in the past is to freeze half of what you cook. Then reheat in a pot on low heat. Tastes just as good!
MB NL says
My mom is from Surinam and my Grandmother from Guyana. I always hassle them to write down recipes ….20 years later I'm still in anticipation 😉 Now they are dismissed with your great blog I've found al the dishes I need to recreate the the kichen magic of my youth , Thanks! KR, Martin (The Netherlands)
jessica says
When I was young I knew this lady who used to make curry for me sometimes. I've been looking for that taste ever since. I made this tonight and I have to say Alicia, I love you!!! You have no idea how many curries I've made and none came close! I can't stop eating this and I will make this for the rest of my life! Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Unknown says
Can you do one with stew chicken
Patima says
Love your recipes. I you this one to make curry for the first time. I like that you give exact measurements. Usually when I ask my mom, she averages a little bit of this and a little. It of that.
F Hanif says
Hi Alicia, I’m thinking about attempting making this chicken curry. However, from what I remember from my family’s recipe and others I found online, yours seem to have a lot more garam masala compared to theirs. I’m worried the flavors might be too overwhelming. Can someone assure me that it’s just right? Thanks.
Priya says
Hi Alicia, Happy Holidays!! I would just like to say thank you! Your recipes are my life savers. I love that you give precise measurements and show photos!! My meals always come out delicious whenever I use your recipes exactly. Awesome job!
Alica says
That’s wonderful! Thanks for trying the recipes and so glad you like them :).
Eloise says
Still the best curry recipe out there! Thank you!!!
Sue Ambrose says
Alicia, thank you so much for this very superior chicken curry recipe.
I’ve been married to a Guyanese for nearly 10 years now, and it’s taken me half of that time to master roti, and since then I have been looking for the perfect recipe for a chicken curry to go with it!
I’ve definitely found it now. I must especially thank you for explaining the process of bunjaling/bunjaying which definitely adds that extra depth to the flavour.
Really, really, yummy and my husband is as ecstatic about it as I am.
Alica says
So glad to hear that Sue! Thanks for trying the recipe :).
Andrea says
Hi Alicia. I just found your recipe through Pinterest. I am interested in making this recipe for my Guyanese boyfriend and I wanted to know the recipe calls for 1 head of garlic does that mean 1 clove of the garlic or the entire head of garlic? Just want to make sure I’m adding the correct amount.
Thanks.
Alica says
Hi Andrea, so glad you found me ?. You’ll need the whole head of garlic to blend with the onion and thyme to make the seasoning. I’ve edited the recipe to reflect the whole head of garlic, not just one clove. Sorry for any confusion!
Annalise says
Hi Alicia,
Thank you so much for this recipe. I am half Guyanese and this is basically the exact same curry recipe as my Grandma’s. For some reason I still can’t seem to get the spices right. Should I cut back of the masala or curry powder? Also, I have recently turned vegan and I wanted to try this recipe using Chickpea and potatos. Do you by chance have a vegetarian version?
Avery says
This is the best curry recipe I have tried and tasted. I have always tried to make curry but I never got that beautiful taste, smell and flavor. My husband enjoyed it so much. Thank you Alica. My curry will now have this amazing taste. Can’t thank you enough.
Alica says
Hi Avery, that’s so wonderful to hear! Hope you licked your fingers ?.
Avery says
I sure did. Can’t stop enjoying the aroma that warfts through the house. Hmmmmm!
Nikita says
DeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeLICIOUS! I have been trying to recreate this flavor for a long time!! Now I just need to learn how to make roti and I am set!
Kayla says
Normally I don’t leave messages but I really enjoyed this recipe. I can’t wait to make more recipes.
Alica says
Glad you enjoyed it Kayla and thanks for leaving a comment!
Sophie says
Hi Alicia,
I was asking my Guyanese mother-in-law if she would teach me her curry recipe. This sounds very similar! I can’t wait to try it.
You mention cloves & cinnamon in the curry ingredient list but I didn’t see it mentioned in the instructions. Can you tell us how/when you add those? Thanks!
Alica says
Hi Sophie, I’ve updated the instructions. Add it when you add the salt- when you’re going to bounjay the chicken.
Robyn says
This is my go to site for all my hubbys favourite traditional Guyanese dishes! I’ve made this curry several times now and it’s delicious! The specific directions given help anyone and everyone make a wonderful curry they’ll be happy to share with others! Thanks so much!!!!
Alica says
Hi Robyn, thank you, that’s great to hear!
Nadine says
Alicia,
Your tutorials, explanations, history lesson and anecdotes makes visiting your site everything I could every ask for. My mom isn’t around and getting all the tips and tricks takes me back to how she and my grandmother use to cook and connects me a bit closer to my roots. Everything I have made from your recipes has come out beautifully. This curry recipe was perfect . Thank you !!!!
Alica says
Hi Nadine, Thanks for this beautiful comment! I’m so happy it’s brought you a taste of home and nice memories of your mom and grandma. I appreciate you following the blog and feel free to email with any questions!
Ron says
Do suggest i use chicken with or without skin?
Alica says
Hi Ron, we like to remove the skin from the chicken. Otherwise the fat from it melts away as it’s cooking and makes the curry very oily. Some people leave the skin on certain pieces like the wing which I think is okay. Hope that helps!
Bobbi says
A head of garlic – like the whole head(12-15 cloves?) or just a clove? Like one piece? Like a petal?
Alica says
Hi Bobbi,
Yes, one whole head of garlic, 12-15 cloves. Doesn’t have to be exact if it’s 20 cloves that’s fine too. After you make the seasoning and use what you need for this recipe, you can store leftovers in the freezer or in the fridge for about a week.
Bobbi says
Thank you for clarifying!