Country Captain Chicken is cooked in a super flavorful curry tomato sauce with bacon. It has a wonderful sweet spiciness to it. This delicious chicken stew is a southern dish like no other.
I love to serve this stewed chicken over white rice. Country Captain is an unusual southern dish with the spices of the East. It is mostly associated with the port cities of Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC.
Often Country Captain is made with bone-in chicken but this one is made with boneless chicken thighs, making it super easy to eat.
Country Captain Chicken is one of my favorite southern chicken recipes. There are so many flavors in this dish and they combine so well. The ingredient list is a little long, but all the ingredients are needed to really build a depth of flavor. One of my favorite ingredients in this recipe is the garam masala. It smells heavenly. There’s also curry powder, cayenne, a guajilla chile, garlic, ginger, raisins, and bacon.
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:
To make Country Captain Chicken, the chicken pieces (I use chicken thighs) are browned in bacon fat. Then the aromatics are cooked until softened. There’s carrots, bell pepper, onion, and garlic.
Next tomatoes, broth and raisins are added and the pot is transferred to the oven.
It bakes for 15 minutes with the lid on and then 15 minutes uncovered so that it thicken up and the flavors intensify.
It is topped with slivered almonds and crumbled bacon and served over rice.
More Southern Chicken Recipes:
- Chicken Sauce Piquant
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Chicken with Creole Mustard Cream Sauce
- Creamed Chicken and Biscuits
- Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
Country Captain
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons salt,, divided
- 1 teaspoon black pepper,, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 thick-cut bacon slices,, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cup sliced carrot
- 1 cup diced red, orange, or yellow bell pepper
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 dried guajillo chile
- 2 garlic cloves,, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 (14-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes,, undrained
- 5 cups cooked white rice
- 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
Instructions
- Bring the broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add the raisins and remove from heat. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine curry powder, garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large Dutch oven, preferably enameled cast iron, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.
- Season the chicken with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.In 2 batches, brown the chicken in hot bacon grease, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from Dutch oven and set aside.
- Add the carrot, bell pepper, and onion to the grease. Cook for 5 minutes to soften, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chile pepper and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the curry powder mixture, the tomato paste, and ginger. Stir for 30 seconds.
- Add the broth/raisin mixture and the diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Place chicken thighs in the sauce. Cover the Dutch oven and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove lid and bake for 15 more minutes.Discard the chile.
- Serve with rice and top with slivered almonds and crumbled bacon.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
This was a yummy recipe. I made it for my book club. My biggest mistake was my stewed tomatoes were spicy and it made the whole meal super spicy. It was still delicious.