Jerk chicken with rice & peas
To make the jerk marinade, combine all the ingredients in a food processor along with 1 tsp salt, and blend to a purée. If you’re having trouble getting it to blend, just keep turning off the blender, stirring the mixture, and trying again. Eventually it will start to blend up – don’t be tempted to add water, as you want a thick paste.
Taste the jerk mixture for seasoning – it should taste pretty salty, but not unpleasantly, puckering salty. You can now throw in more chillies if it’s not spicy enough for you. If it tastes too salty and sour, try adding in a bit more brown sugar until the mixture tastes well balanced.
Make a few slashes in the chicken thighs and pour the marinade over the meat, rubbing it into all the crevices. Cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
If you want to barbecue your chicken, get the coals burning 1 hr or so before you’re ready to cook. Authentic jerked meats are not exactly grilled as we think of grilling, but sort of smoke-grilled. To get a more authentic jerk experience, add some wood chips to your barbecue, and cook your chicken over slow, indirect heat for 30 mins. To cook in the oven, heat to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin with the lime halves and cook for 45 mins until tender and cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rice & peas. Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water, then tip it into a large saucepan with all the remaining ingredients except the kidney beans. Season with salt, add 300ml cold water and set over a high heat. Once the rice begins to boil, turn it down to a medium heat, cover and cook for 10 mins.
Add the beans to the rice, then cover with a lid. Leave off the heat for 5 mins until all the liquid is absorbed. Squeeze the roasted lime over the chicken and serve with the rice & peas, and some hot sauce if you like it really spicy.
01 Information
Grade | Serving | Calorie | Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Easy | 8 Servings | 344 Kcal | 10 Mins | 50 Mins | 60 Mins |
02 Ingredients
- 12 Chicken Thighs
- 1/2 Lime
- 1 bunch Spring Onions
- 1 tbs chopped Ginger
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 Onion
- 3 chopped Red Chilli
- 1/2 teaspoon Thyme
- Juice of 1 Lime
- 2 tbs Soy Sauce
- 2 tbs Vegetable Oil
- 3 tbs Brown Sugar
- 1 tbs Allspice
- 200g Basmati Rice
- 400g Coconut Milk
- 1 bunch Spring Onions
- 2 sprigs Thyme
- 2 cloves chopped Garlic
- 1 tbs Allspice
- 800g Kidney Beans
03 Method
-
Step12 Chicken Thighs
-
Step1/2 Lime
-
Step1 bunch Spring Onions
-
Step1 tbs chopped Ginger
-
Step3 cloves Garlic
-
Step1/2 Onion
-
Step3 chopped Red Chilli
-
Step1/2 teaspoon Thyme
-
StepJuice of 1 Lime
-
Step2 tbs Soy Sauce
-
Step2 tbs Vegetable Oil
-
Step3 tbs Brown Sugar
-
Step1 tbs Allspice
-
Step200g Basmati Rice
-
Step400g Coconut Milk
-
Step1 bunch Spring Onions
-
Step2 sprigs Thyme
-
Step2 cloves chopped Garlic
-
Step1 tbs Allspice
-
Step800g Kidney Beans