Caribbean Curry Chicken Roti
Quick, cheap, and packed with flavor -This decadent dish just got added to my weekly menu. I loved the chicken roti we had in St. Lucia so much, it definitely was the first dish I had to recreate. The day after we got home I went to the store and picked up a bag of potatoes and 3 pounds of boneless chicken thighs so that I could recreate this island treat. I haven’t made homemade rotis (burrito shells) yet, but that is next on the list. I used store bought burrito shells and it worked great but I know that the homemade version will be even better. I am working with a few techniques and ingredient switches and you guys know that you’ll be the first to know when I have hacked the perfect recipe.
Servings Prep Time
8-10Roti 20Minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30-45Minutes 2-4Hours
Servings Prep Time
8-10Roti 20Minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30-45Minutes 2-4Hours
Ingredients
Garnish
Instructions
  1. Add chicken, garlic, and all of the seasonings to a bowl. Stir making sure everything is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
  2. Heat coconut oil and bay leaves in a large skillet over medium high heat
  3. When the edges of the bay leaves have started to brown, add chicken mixture to hot skillet. Set timer for 10 minutes.
  4. Allow to cook for 2 minutes before stirring so that you get a nice sear on the edges.
  5. When you’ve cooked the chicken for 8 minutes, add the chopped onions. Whenever your ten mi utes is up, stir the onions into the chicken curry mixture. Reduce heat to medium and stir well.
  6. Add potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
  7. Add chopped tomatoes and set the timer for 10 more minutes. Tomatoes will cook into sauce if you mash them with the back of your spatula. When it’s finished, you’ll not be able to see the tomatoes and the potato will be tender.
  8. Add a tab of butter to a hot nonstick pan. I used a wok and it worked perfectly. Cook tortilla on high heat for about a minute, making sure to get butter evenly on one side of the tortilla. You want the tortilla soft enough to easily fold but not too cooked that it starts to get crispy before you have rolled the curry into the middle
  9. Without flipping the tortilla, remove the pan from the heat and add 4 to 5 tablespoons of the curry chicken filling to the center of the tortilla shell. Roll the roti by first folding in one long side, then both ends, and closing it with the last long side rolled to close your burrito.
  10. Add pan back to the heat and sear for a few seconds on each side. You want it to have a nice crunch along the edges but the burrito shell will be mostly soft.
  11. Serve hot with Greek yogurt or sour cream and a really good hot sauce. If you can find anything with scotch bonnets in it, choose that one for this dish.
  12. Meal prep tip- I like to make these in advance to store in the freezer so that all I have to do is quickly warm them up in the microwave and finish with a quick sear on the edges in the skillet.
Recipe Notes

I mean… Come ON!!! Just look at that roti! The shell is soft with a nice crisp around the edges and the insides are filled with smokey spicy chicken. Chicken has never been so much fun for dinner!

First things first… What is curry? I’m betting you could ask 5 different chefs from different regions and you would get 5 different answers. Basically, a curry is a mixture of seasonings and spices that is different depending on the type of food being prepared. Chinese curry has a lot of lemongrass and ginger while Indian curry uses mango powder and turmeric. Jamaican curry has more peppers and adds in sweeter spices like cloves and nutmeg. Caribbean curry is a mixture of them all which makes it, in my opinion, the best of all in the curry world.

Check out this haul we brought back this year! The prices can’t be beat and the freshness is unlike any I’ve been able to find at even the higher end grocery stores. There are several different types of curry in this picture. There are three different curry powders each with its own blend of spices all these fresh spices have my whole kitchen smelling like an international market. If you can’t find all the spices on my ingredient list, no worries! Find what you can and hunt out a few of your own. You really can’t go wrong so get creative. When in doubt, let your nose be your guide. If it smells good, it will taste good.

Here is how to make Caribbean Curry Chicken Roti…

Add chicken, garlic, and all of the seasonings to a bowl. Stir making sure everything is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. 

Heat coconut oil and bay leaves in a large skillet over medium high heat

When the edges of the bay leaves have started to brown, add chicken mixture to hot skillet. Set timer for 10 minutes. 

Allow to cook for 2 minutes before stirring so that you get a nice sear on the edges.

When you’ve cooked the chicken for 8 minutes, add the chopped onions. Whenever your ten minutes is up, stir the onions into the chicken curry mixture. Reduce heat to medium and stir well. 

Add potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes. 

Add chopped tomatoes and set the timer for 10 more minutes. Tomatoes will cook into sauce if you mash them with the back of your spatula. When it’s finished, you’ll not be able to see the tomatoes and the potato will be tender. 

Wish I could get a scratch and sniff app to add to my blog because you have got to smell this stuff!! Your finished product won’t me too juicy but sholdn’t be dry either. Add a bit of chicken stock or water if you think it’s getting too dry. I didn’t have to add any until I warmed up the left overs. Let your chicken curry rest while you get the roti ready.

Ok –  I was so eager to share this recipe with you that I used store bought burrito shells instead of making my own roti. When I make this dish again next week, I will be trying out a few different ideas I’ve got for homemade roti. I’ll be sure to update this post when I’ve hacked the perfect roti recipe. Until then, large store bought burrito shells worked quite nicely. I wanted the fresh taste of hot tortillas so I decided to make these a kinda chimichanga burrito hybrid. They are  Start by adding a tab of butter to a hot nonstick pan. I used a wok and it worked perfectly. 

Coat one side of the tortilla with the melted butter and cook on high heat until tortilla is soft but not yet getting crispy. Apx 1 minute.

Without flipping the tortilla, remove the pan from the heat and add 4 to 5 tablespoons of the curry chicken filling to the center of the tortilla shell. Roll the roti by first folding in one long side, then both ends, and closing it with the last long side rolled to close your burrito.

Add pan back to the heat and sear for a few seconds on each side. Rotate roti to sear each side

You want it to have a nice crunch along the edges but the burrito shell will be mostly soft.

Serve hot with Greek yogurt or sour cream and a really good hot sauce. If you can find anything with scotch bonnets in it, choose that one for this dish.

Meal prep tip- I like to make these in advance to store in the freezer so that all I have to do is quickly warm them up in the microwave and finish with a quick sear on the edges in the skillet.

I literally can not freakin wait until you try this dish! When you do, id love to hear what you think. Leave me a comment here and tag me on your social media post so I can see your finished Caribbean Curry Chicken Roti.

 

Enjoy!!