caribbean curry

While I’ve shared several recipes with potato and chickpeas over the years and yes, you have seen a version of this curry recipe on here. This will be the first time we’re doing this from ‘scratch’. In the previous version we used chickpeas (channa) from the can, with excellent results, but I wanted to share the traditional way with you.

You’ll Need…

2 cups dried chickpeas (soak in 4 cups water)
6 medium potatoes (1/4’s)
12-16 cups water (adjust)
1 heaping tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
2 tablespoon Curry powder
1 tablespoon Anchar Masala
1 medium onion (diced)
6-8 cloves garlic
5 bird’s eye pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil | 1 teaspoon salt.
2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, as some may contain fillers. And remember to wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling spicy peppers.

Place the dried chickpeas in a deep bowl and cover with water (not mentioned in the ingredient list) and allow it to soak for 4-6 hours. In my case I did it overnight. Make sure there’s about 1 inch of water above the dried chickpeas when you start. This step will help to quicken the cook time. Yes you can do this recipe with the aid of a pressure cooker, but I prefer to cook low and slow, plus we’re trying to stick to the traditional way of preparing this dish.

Let’s make a sort of slurry to start things off. In a bowl place the Curry Powder along with the Anchar Masala (use 1 teaspoon of ground roasted cumin if you cannot source the Anchar Masala), the Caribbean Green Seasoning and 3/4 cup water. Give this a good mix!

Heat the olive oil in a deep pot on a medium flame, pour in the curry slurry we created and turn the heat down to low. We want to gently cook the curry to allow all the spices which makes up a good curry powder, to bloom.

Let it cook on that gentle heat for 5 minutes, then crank-up the heat to HIGH to burn off all that liquid.

As you start seeing the oil we started with, take the heat all the way back down to low. Now add the onion, garlic and pepper (in my case I used birds eye pepper, but you can add any spicy pepper and in the amounts you like). Stir to mix well. Remember, the heat is on low.

Rinse the soaked chickpeas a couple times with cool water, drain and place in the pot now.

Also add in the potatoes (yea I like them in big pieces so as they cook and start falling apart, some will still keep their shape and add texture to the dish). Stir well to coat everything in that curry niceness we created.

It’s now time to add the salt and cover everything with water, then crank up the heat to medium/high to bring it to a boil. I used between 13-15 cups of water in cooking, as I stared with 12 cups but added more as it slowly cooked. This is a BIG batch of curry, so feel free to freeze the leftovers.

As it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and place the lid of the pot on, but slightly ajar. Cook for an hour and 15 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Providing the channa is soft, it’s time to adjust the salt to your own liking.

To thicken things, I used my potato masher to smash a bit of the chickpeas, but do keep in mind that as the pot cools it will thicken naturally.

Typically you’d toss in chopped shado beni (chandon beni aka culantro) or cilantro, but in my case all I had was parsley on hand.

So there you have it, channa and aloo from scratch, an iconic veg or vegetarian curry, which is guaranteed to delight your tastebuds.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Meat & Poultry

Channa (chickpeas) & Aloo (potato) With Chicken.

May 27, 2025October 23, 2022Leave a Comment

Here’s one of my favorite dishes to make when I have leftover Stewed Chicken and plan to make hot Sada Roti. While it does take a little work to remove the sort of skin off the Channa (Chickpeas), I highly suggest you do as the end result is simply delicious.

You’ll Need…

2 cans chickpeas (540 ml each)
1 medium onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (smashed)
left over stewed chicken

1 tablespoon Caribbean Green seasoning
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon roasted cumin (ground geera)
1/2 cup water (for curry slurry)
3/4 teaspoon salt (adjust)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 medium potatoes (cut into 1/4)
4-6 cups water
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
3 chili peppers (optional)
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Note! Be mindful to read the label of the curry powder and chick peas you use, to make sure they are gluten free. If rocking this dish for a gluten free diet. Also note that you should wear gloves and wash your hands with soap and water when working with spicy peppers, like the Scotch Bonnet.

Drain and rinse the chick peas from the can (watch the video below for my tip). Then place them into a bowl covered with water and using your hands/finger, give them a rub to remove the outer skin (see the video below). Yes, you don’t have to do this step. However in my humble opinion.. it’s well worth the effort.

Place the curry powder in a small bowl, add Geera (cumin), the Caribbean Green Seasoning, garlic, onion, black pepper and 1/2 cup water. Stir to create a thick slurry.

With your large pot on a med/high flame, add the oil of your choice (I use olive oil when cooking) and then pour the curry slurry into the pot. Stir well. Add a tablespoon of water in the same bowl where you had the slurry.. to rinse off any remaining curry and pour it into the pot as well.

Turn the heat down to low and let it cook for 4-5 minutes. This will help bloom the spices which makes up a good curry powder. After-which, turn up the heat to burn off all that liquid in the pot. The goal is to see the oil we started with at the bottom of the pot. This step will help to develop that rich curry flavor. It may take 3-5 minutes.

Add the Scotch Bonnet pepper, stir.. then add the chick peas (channa) to the pot and stir well to coat the peas with the curry base and use the remaining liquid from the rinsed chickpeas to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Add the potatoes as well.

With the heat still on high, add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to a rolling boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potato pieces are tender and start falling apart. Toss in the Chili peppers (whole) should you decide you want to use them. And here’s where you can add the salt to the pot.

Here’s where you can adjust the salt to your liking and keep this dish fully vegan. However we’re not! We’re adding the leftover stewed chicken to the pot at this point.

Heat through for about 4-5 minutes and you’re basically done. Couple things to keep in mind. Add more water when cooking if you find that it’s too thick. Should it be too runny at the end (knowing it will thicken as it cools), use your spoon to press down and crush some pieces of the potato and the chicken peas. Adjust the salt to your liking.

Top with Chadon Beni or cliantro and BOOM.. You’re Done!

The combination of the spicy curry with the deep flavors of the stewed chicken, added to the pillowy / silky texture of the chickpeas and potato – this dish just scream #comfortfood Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Meat & Poultry

Curry Duck With Pigeon Peas.

May 27, 2025August 20, 2022Leave a Comment

While I’ve shared several Curry Duck Recipes with you over the years, only after receiving a request via Instagram for Curry Duck With Pigeon Peas, did I realize that had not already shared this classic Caribbean curry recipe. And while using freshly harvested Pigeon Peas would make for an even better tasting dish, the frozen version still gives you an EXCELLENT result.

You’ll Need…

6-7 lbs duck (prepared)
3/4 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning (divided)
1 tablespoon ground masala
2-3 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tomato (diced)
2 scotch bonnet peppers (sliced)
1 medium Onion (sliced)
8 cloves Garlic (smashed)
Cumin (geera) seeds
2 1/2 – 3 tablespoon Curry Powder
5-8 dried curry leaves
1 tablespoon dehydrated Chadon beni (optional)
1 tablespoon Anchar Masala
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
5-8 Wiri Wiri peppers (optional)
2 3/4 cups water (divided- adjust)
2-3 cups frozen pigeon peas + water to boil

Important! This version is very spicy, but you can adjust the amount of Scotch Bonnet and Wiri Wiri you use, to your own preference.

Pre boil the pigeon peas in water for 30 mins, drain and repeat for another 30 minutes. This step will help to tenderize the peas, but more importantly, it will remove that sort of bitter taste you can get if you don’t do this step. Drain and set aside after.

Season the clean duck (remove skin and fat, wash with lemon juice and cool water – drain). Yea, I removed most of the skin as the additional fat in really not good for us. Tip… get your butcher to cut the duck for you, using his band-saw. Duck bones are very brittle and will shatter with a conventional chefs knife or cleaver. Watch the video below for more tips, including why you flame the duck’s skin during the butchering process.

In a large bowl with the clean (cut) duck, add the salt, black pepper, 2 tablespoon of the Caribbean Green seasoning, ground Masala, Scotch Bonnet (use as much as you can handle, I like my curry duck SPICY) and tomato. Mix well and try your BEST to allow it to marinate in the fridge overnight.. or at least 2 hours. The tomato’s acidity will help to balance off overall flavor of the curry, plus help us with a thicker gravy at the end.

In a large pot (iron works best) heat the oil (of your choice) on a medium flame, add the onion and garlic, turn the heat down to low and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the cumin seeds and stir well. We’re trying our best to not burn anything. A minute later add the remaining tablespoon of Caribbean Green Seasoning. Stir.

One minute later add the curry powder of your choice (I used my blend) and cook gently for 3-5 minutes. Watch the video below for more tips.

Now turn the heat up to high, stir and add 3/4 cup of water. This step cooks off the rawness of the curry, giving you a much more rounded finished curry at the end. As it comes to a boil, reduce to medium (heat) and add the curry leaves and chadon beni.

The goal is to cook this until the water burns off and you start seeing the oil we stared with, add the Anchar Masala and stir well.

You’re looking for a thick slurry (see my tip in the video)! With the heat still on high, add the seasoned duck to the pot and stir well to coat the duck with this lovely curry base.

Put the lid on and bring to a boil. It will take a couple minutes.. reduce to a medium/low heat and cook. After ten minutes (stir a few times) crank up the heat to high and burn off all that liquid.

Once you can see the oil on the bottom of the pot we started with (and all the liquid is gone), add the pre-cooked pigeon peas and stir well. Now add 2 cups of water and bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer to cook the duck until it’s tender. Lid on , slightly ajar.

Do stir ever so often and pay attention to the liquid (add more water if you find it’s too dry).

1 hour later and the duck (depending on the age of it when it was butchered) should be tender. Now it’s time to personalize things, taste and adjust the salt, cook the gravy to the consistency you like (keep in mind it will thicken as it cools) and make sure the tenderness is to your liking. I like fall-off-the bone, some people do like a little chew.

Turn off the stove, top with the cilantro and wiri wiri peppers and ENJOY!

Served with hot steamed rice or with off the tawa Buss-Up-Shut Roti! Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Seafood

Curry Crayfish With Potato.

February 18, 2022February 17, 2022Leave a Comment

While I didn’t grow up eating this dish on the islands (simply because I don’t ever recall mom having access to crayfish), it’s quite common to see me make it when I visit the Asian supermarkets and they have crayfish (frozen) in stock. The trick is to not over-cook the the crayfish, while using it a base for flavoring the entire curry.

You’ll Need…

1 lb crayfish (crawfish)
1 med onion (sliced)
4-6 cloves garlic (smashed/crushed)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt (divided)
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder (divided)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper (divided)
4 -5 cups water
1 small habanero pepper (optional)
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning (divided)
2-3 tablespoon coconut oil
5 medium potatoes (1-2 inch pieces)
1 teaspoon roasted Geera (cumin)
1 tablespoon Cilantro (chopped fine)

Note: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, as some may have flour as a filler/thickener.

Wash the crayfish with 1/2 lemon or 1/2 lime (juice) and cool water. Drain and squeeze dry (especially if the crayfish was previously frozen as in my case).

Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 of the black pepper, 1/2 tablespoon curry powder and 1 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning. Mix well and marinate for 10-115 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoon of coconut oil in a saucepan on a medium flame. Add the seasoned crayfish, stir well, then crank up the heat to high. Cook for 1.5 to 2 minutes, then remove the crayfish and set aside. I used a slotted spoon.

Turn the heat down to medium now (same saucepan), add the onion, garlic, remaining black pepper, habanero pepper (remove the seeds ad white membrane around the seeds to tame the heat a bit if you want) and the remaining Caribbean Green Seasoning. Stir to combine and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Once the liquid is burnt off and you can see the oil we started off with (add more coconut oil here if you wish), add the remaining curry powder and stir well.

Turn the heat to low so we don’t burn the curry. After 2-3 minutes, add 1/2 cup of water along with the roasted cumin (geera). Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the liquid burns off. This is your curry base.

Now add the potato and stir to coat the pieces of potato with the curry, then add 4 cups of water and remaining salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, lid on (slightly ajar) and cook for 20 minutes and the potato is falling-apart tender.

Once the potato is tender, you can crank up the heat and crush a few pieces of potato to thicken the gravy. Now add the pre-cooked crayfish to the pot. Do keep in mind that this dish is meant to have a sauce or gravy and that it will thicken considerably as it cools down.

Cook for a minute or two, add the cilantro and taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Enjoy!

Be sure to watch the video below if any of the steps seem confusing and be sure to serve this with your fav rice dish, sada roti or my fave.. buss-up-shut roti. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Oh Yeh.. shrimp can be used a as a replacement for the crayfish.

Meat & Poultry

Incredible Curry Chicken Breast.

May 27, 2025January 3, 20224 Comments

Dry, Bland and “Like Rubber“! A few words the average Caribbean person will use to describe curry (curried) chicken breast (white meat). And while there’s some truth to this, I’m here today to change that forever.. with a few simple steps.

You’ll Need…

3-4 lbs chicken breast (no skin nor bones)
1 teaspoon salt (adjust)
2 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning
1/2 medium onion (diced)
6 cloves garlic (smashed)
2-3 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin (geera)
1 teaspoon Anchar Masala
3 cups water
2 medium tomatoes (diced)
2 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder you use, as some may have flour as a filler. I find using a heavy pan (like cast iron) gives you better results. I also like cooking this dish outdoors (the strong scent indoors can last a long time).

Heat the oil on a medium flame. Then add the onion and garlic, turn the heat down to low and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the Caribbean green seasoning and stir well. Typically you’d season the chicken with the Caribbean Green seasoning, but we’re doing things differently. After 3 minutes after adding the Green Seasoning, add the curry powder and stir well.

The curry will go darker as we cook it (heat still on low). After 4 minutes add the diced tomato, this will help give you a thick gravy at the end, PLUS the acidity will help balance the overall flavor of the curry. Stir well, then add the water.

Turn the heat to medium to bring it to a boil. As you start seeing little bullbles, add the black pepper, salt, anchar masala and geera.

Turn the heat down to med/low and simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Toss in the peppers (whole). Feel free to make it spicy by using a more SPICY pepper.

The liquid will reduce by about a third, add the pieces of chicken breast (2 inch pieces) and stir well to coat with the curry sauce.

Cook for 7-10 minutes as we don’t want to make the chicken dry. Turn off the heat, toss in the cilantro to finish things off. Or if you have fresh Shado Beni (culantro), use that instead of the cilantro.

Remember to taste for salt and adjust to your liking. Note! If you break the peppers it will make the dish spicy.

Now you know! Dry and bland curry chicken breast are a thing of the past. The trick is to create a delicious curry gravy and to add the chicken breast near the end, so you never over-cook it. Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Meat & Poultry

Incredible Caribbean Curry Chicken With Potato.

May 27, 2025November 14, 20215 Comments

No you’re not seeing double! If you’ve been following my culinary exploits here from day one, you would have seen me share a similar Curry Chicken With Potato (aloo) recipe about 8 years ago. And while that recipe is timeless, the google indexing bots are no longer as kind to the website, so if you were do do a search online you’ll never find that classic (original) recipe.

You’ll Need…

3-4 lbs chicken
3/4 tablespoon salt (adjust)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoon Caribbean Green Seasoning (divided)
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion (sliced)
5-8 cloves garlic (smashed)
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
5 1/2 cups water (divided)
2 heaping tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon roasted geera (cumin)
1 teaspoon anchar masala
5 medium potatoes (cut into 1/4’s)
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Important! if doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. Especially the curry powder – read the label if you don’t make your own. I used an extra Habanero pepper (floated) in this dish as I enjoy my curry very spicy.

Watch the video below to see how I broke down a whole chicken for this recipe. Feel free to use thighs or drums if that is what you have on hand or prefer using. Additionally, you may use chicken breast, but IMHO you get better results with bone in/ dark meat.

Season the chicken with the salt, black pepper and 2 tablespoon of the Caribbean Green Seasoning. Stir well and allow to marinate for a couple hours in the fridge.

Heat your deep pot on a medium flame and add the oil. Followed by the onion, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper. Turn the heat down to low and gently cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the remaining Caribbean Green Seasoning and stir. 30 seconds later add the curry powder and mix well.. heat still on low please. This step will toast the curry powder and bloom the spices which makes up the curry powder.

4 Minutes later, crank the heat to high and add 1/2 cup water, stir and then add the Geera and anchar masala (you can get this on amazon or your local Caribbean market – or double up on the roasted geera aka cumin). The goal here is to do two things. 1 Cook out the rawness of the curry and 2. to burn off the water we added to intensify the flavor of the curry base.

It will go dark, thick and perfume the kitchen with all the curry niceness. As soon as all the liquid is gone and you can see the oil we started with, add the seasoned chicken and stir well to coat each piece.

Bring to a boil (about 3-4 minutes), turn the heat down to medium and cover the pot. In the same bowl you marinated the chicken swish around the 5 cups of water and set aside for now.

After 4 minutes with that lid on, you’ll notice a lot of liquid sprouted. Turn the heat back up to high and burn off that liquid to intensify the overall flavor of the curry. (lid off).

3-4 minutes on high and the liquid should be gone. Add the potato, stir and add the 5 cups of water to fully cook the chicken and get the potatoes tender and falling apart.

As soon as it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a rolling boil, lid on (slightly ajar) and allow it to cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. This is where I floated the Habanero pepper (not mentioned in the ingredient list) .. if you do, you can break it later on as I did, to release the fury or don’t break to get the flavor of the oil on the outside of the pepper and not the raw heat.

Here is where you’ll taste it for salt and adjust to your liking. Also, you can (up to you) use your spoon to crush some of the potato pieces to help thicken the gravy.

I allowed the pot to go for 4 minutes with the lid off and then it was time to turn off the stove, toss in the cilantro (better if you have shado beni) and get ready for an incredible curry dish. IMPORTANT! If it looks runny, please note that it will thicken up as it cools down.

Back to using chicken breast… be sure to check out my Curry Chicken Breast video if you like white meat and you don’t want dry, bland and tough curry chicken without bones and dark meat.

Serve with hot steaming rice or your favorite Roti! Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Curry Chickpeas (channa) With Potato (aloo).

Channa (chickpeas) & Aloo (potato) With Chicken.

Curry Duck With Pigeon Peas.

Curry Crayfish With Potato.

Incredible Curry Chicken Breast.

Incredible Caribbean Curry Chicken With Potato.

Hi, I'm Chris.

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