In the mood for something exotic? Made with kitchen pantry staples, and the instant pot, this chicken stew will transport you to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Islands-- instantly. (Yes, sorry...lame joke...)
The ingredient list looks long, but you most likely already have all these spices in your pantry.
Marinate the chicken overnight with spices.
The next day, brown the chicken in a pan and add to the instant pot. Deglaze the pan and add the liquid to the instant pot as well. Add peppers and bundle of thyme, and set the instant pot to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
Remove chicken pieces. Add coconut milk. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch using the saute function, and pour over the chicken. It's now ready to eat over rice. And if you have leftovers, it'll be even better the next day.
P.S. No traditional jerk seasoning of scotch bonnet peppers in this recipe because I'm making it kid friendly. So I "substituted" with mini bell peppers instead.
Recipe inspired by the New York Times Stewed Chicken Recipe
Yields 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
- 2 t salt
- 1 T soy sauce
- 3 T ketchup
- 3 T brown sugar
- 3 T dried chopped onions
- 2 t granulated garlic
- 2 t powdered ginger
- 1 t pumpkin pie spice
- ½ t ground nutmeg
- ½ t black pepper
- 1 ½ t whole cloves
- 6 sweet mini bell peppers, rough chopped
- 8 sprigs thyme (or 4 t dry thyme if you don’t have fresh
- 1 c coconut milk
- 2 T cornstarch
- 1 ½ c water
Procedures:
1. Trim fat off chicken thighs (and remove skin if you want. I removed it on half of the thighs to cut down on the fat).
2. Marinate chicken overnight with the salt, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, dried chopped onions, granulated garlic, powdered ginger, pumpkin pie spice, ground nutmeg, black pepper, and whole cloves.
3. The next day, brown chicken on both sides in two batches using a large nonstick pan, and transfer pieces to the instant pot once browned. (You can also brown chicken in the instant pot using the saute function, but it will take about 4 batches, so I just find browning in the large pan and transferring to instant pot faster and easier.)
4. Deglaze pan with the water and pour into the instant pot with the chicken.
5. Add the chopped peppers and thyme. (Tying the thyme sprigs together in a bundle with kitchen string makes removal easier later.)
6. Give everything a good stir to mix. Close lid to instant pot, and place vent to seal. Set the instant pot to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
7. After the timer is up, quick release. Carefully open the lid, and with tongs, remove the chicken pieces to a serving tray. Discard the thyme bundle.
8. Set the instant pot to saute, and add the coconut milk. Make a slurry with 2 T cornstarch and ¼ c water. When the sauce is boiling, add in cornstarch slurry and stir. Allow sauce to continue to boil for about 5 minutes while stirring intermittently.
9. Pour sauce over chicken and serve over rice.