Green chicken, coconut rice and peas
Real Jamaican comfort food this one – the green chicken, rice and peas come with a quick and easy pepper sauce.
Ingredients
For the green seasoning
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 spring onion, bulb discarded, chopped
- 2 sprigs coriander, chopped
- 1 sprig parsley, chopped
- 1 sprig thyme, leaves only
- ½ lime, juice only
- dash hot pepper sauce (scotch bonnet-based)
- 4 chicken legs (bone-in, skin-on)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the quick pepper sauce
- 2 scotch bonnet peppers, seeds removed and chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 sprigs coriander, stem and leaves
- 50ml/2fl oz white vinegar
- 2 tsp caster sugar
For the coconut rice and peas
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- marinated chicken (from above)
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 250g/9oz basmati, or long grain white rice
- 200ml/7fl oz coconut milk
- 400ml/14fl oz chicken stock
- 400g/14oz kidney beans, drained
- 1 scotch bonnet, unpierced and unbruised
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
Method
To make the green seasoning, the night before you want to eat this dish, blend the green seasoning ingredients (except the chicken and salt and pepper). Transfer to a bowl or bag, season the chicken with salt and pepper and transfer the chicken to the marinade. Place in the fridge and leave overnight.
To make the quick pepper sauce, blend together all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
For the coconut rice and peas, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/ Gas 6.
Heat the oil in a large lidded casserole and brown the marinated chicken on all sides for about 10 minutes in total, then remove it from the pan and set aside.
Add a little more oil if needed, then fry the onion for 5 minutes to soften, then add the garlic, allspice and thyme and stir until the aromas are released. Add the rice, along with salt and pepper to taste and stir to coat the grains.
Add the coconut milk, stock, kidney beans and scotch bonnet. Bring to the boil and cook for about 5–10 minutes, or until some of the liquid has evaporated.
Pop the chicken on top of the rice, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for about 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Fork the rice to fluff it up. Serve with drizzles of the pepper sauce.
Recipe Tips
The four chicken legs in this recipe could be replaced by eight chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on).
