Mom’s Afro-Portuguese Chicken Curry

This recipe is from my Mom, she was taught this when she was living in Angola in the 70’s.  The curry is mildly spicy, using peri-peri.  Coconut milk is added to give it a creamy texture.  This recipe is a crowd pleaser and if you serve it with bread or rice for soaking up the broth – my type of comfort food!An alternative to peri-peri is crushed red pepper.  Chicken thighs are used, as they taste better than breast meat and handle the long cooking. You must remove the skin and fat from the meat before marinating.  The other must do step for this recipe is the marinade or “vinha de alhos”.  This makes the chicken more tender, removes the game flavor from the meat and is a base for the dish.   Much of Portuguese cooking requires marinating meat. You can use the marinade or vinha de alhos,  for other meats for day to day cooking as well.  You want to try to marinade for at least 6 hours with this recipe, if you can do overnight that is even better.

Mom's Afro-Portuguese Chicken Curry
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Mom's Afro-Portuguese Chicken Curry
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time Cook Time Passive Time
8-10person 1/2hour 2hours 6-12hours
Servings Prep Time
8-10person 1/2hour
Cook Time Passive Time
2hours 6-12hours
Ingredients
Servings: person
Units:
Ingredients
Servings: person
Units:
Instructions
    Marinde or Vinha da alhos
    1. In a large bowl (it should be large enough to hold the chicken), combine all the spices and ingredients. Stir together. Taste the marinade and add salt to your taste. Put the chicken thighs in the marinade, mix the chicken to coat with marinade. Cover with plastic food wrap or a plate (avoid foil) and refrigerate.
    Chicken Curry
    1. Warm up an 8 quart pan.
    2. Add olive oil, and heat for about 2 min. toss in the Jamaica and bay leaf and let fry for a few seconds.
    3. Remove chicken from the refrigerator and place the chicken thighs into the oil. Laying them around the pan, do not stack on top of each other. You may need to make 2 batches, you don't want to crowd the pan yet. Set the marinade aside for cooking later.
    4. Lightly braise the chicken until the outside turns white (looking like it is cooked). Once the outside is white, remove chicken from the pan and set aside. Keep the oil and chicken fat/juices in the pan.
    5. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Saute until it is a light golden color. Do not burn the onion.
    6. Add all the chicken back to the pot.
    7. Add all the marinade to the pot. Bring this to a boil for 10 minutes or so.
    8. Add Bouillon cube
    9. Add white wine.
    10. Add water and stir gently.
    11. Add coconut milk and stir gently.
    12. Bring to a light boil.
    13. Add peri-peri or pepper paste.
    14. Season with salt to your taste.
    15. Keep chicken simmering for about an 1-1/2 hours. You can cook for 2 hours, this will deepen the flavor.