| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
- 1/4 pound slab bacon or fatty country ham, chopped
- 12 chicken thighs, skin on, trimmed of excess skin and fat
- 1 large flavorful dried chile, such as guajillo or pasilla, split, seeds removed
- 2 1/3 cups peeled and sliced carrots (1/4-inch thick rounds), about 1 1/4 pound bunch weighed with tops
- 2 cups diced yellow bell peppers, about 2 peppers
- 2 cups diced yellow onions, about 2 medium onions
- 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with juice
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 4 cups cooked white rice
- 2/3 cup slivered toasted almonds, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pour the broth into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Put the currants in a small bowl and pour enough broth over them to cover. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine the curry powder, garam masala, salt, and black pepper and reserve.
- Scatter the bacon in a 4 to 6 quart enameled cast-iron pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir the pieces around occasionally until the bacon is firm and just golden brown, about 5 minutes. With the slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a small bowl and reserve.
- Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot, reserving the excess fat in a small bowl. Brown the chicken thighs in batches over medium-high heat, taking care not to crowd them in the pot, until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Add the reserved bacon fat, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the pot becomes too dry. Remove the chicken and reserve in a medium bowl.
- Add 2 teaspoons reserved bacon fat to the pot (if there is none left, use 2 teaspoons canola or vegetable oil). Add the chile and toast the chile in the fat, about 30 seconds per side, until very fragrant.
- Add the carrots, bell peppers, onions, and garlic and cook until slightly softened, about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, spice mixture, ginger, and the currants and their broth. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the tomatoes have cooked down to a puree and the sauce has thickened around the vegetables, about 8 minutes.
- Nest the chicken thighs gently in the vegetable sauce so that the skin side faces up and is above the surface of the gravy. Tent the pot loosely with foil and transfer to the middle rack of the oven. Bake until the country captain resembles a roiling stew around the chicken thighs, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the sauce has thickened further and the chicken skin is just beginning to crisp, about 15 minutes more.
- Remove from the oven, skim any excess fat from the surface, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the chile. With tongs, transfer 3 thighs to each of 4 wide, deep bowls filled with 1 cup hot white rice. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and the rice and garnish with the reserved bacon, almonds, and parsley.
Reviews
I have made this version and Bobby Flay’s version. My go to is a combination of the spices from Bobby Flay, and the Lee Bros. My version is the best. I also use golden raisins instead of the dark ones or current. So much more appealing. I leave out the nuts. Making it again tomorrow night for my Christmas Bunco girls.
I LOVE Country Captain. This is the best recipe for it. Such a rich mix of flavor and warmth. I can’t wait till fall comes to southern VA so I can make it! Comfort food for all, not just Southerners.
Me and my family love this dish!! I have made it several times, including today. Thanks Lee Bros for the recipe.
One of my Husband’s faves!! I also only use 8 thighs cause we like lots of sauce! Really neat that it was General Patton’s favorite dish also! Lots of prep but well worth it!!!
I have made this dish many times and it has become my most requested dish by my wife. I usually make it with no more than six thighs as IF can’t figure out how on earth to get 12 thighs in my 8 qt Lodge dutch oven and have all of them above the sauce!
I have made this several times and it is a crowd pleaser!
So much flavor is here in this dish. I make this for dinner guests and always get compliments that the dish is amazing. I like to add a bit of shredded coconut at the end for extra texture and zing. I also usually use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. Take your time making this dish to get all of the flavors blended nicely. It’s worth it.
The dish has a healthy amount of spice which is nice coupled with the sweetness of the raisins (i didn’t use currants. I took off one star first because it is time consuming – took me two hours from start to finish, and second because there was much too much sauce for the amount of chicken. Other than that flavors were nice and I would make it again (but probably not on a weeknight when time is an issue
I made this recipe last night, having looked for a tasty, inexpensive chicken dish (I had most of the ingredients except the garam masala. It was delicious, and the house smelled like a wonderful Indian food restaurant in London. I seasoned along the way, seasoning the chicken and vegetables independently as they cooked, and found that the additional 1-1/2 tsp of salt was just fine. I wasn’t quite sure if the dried pasilla pepper I found should have been reconstituted before quickly sauteeing in oil. My only criticism, and perhaps I need to watch the throwdown to know where I went wrong, was that the chicken needed to cook longer, it perhaps could use a bit of celery and a bay leaf or something to make the dish less tomato-y. I actually think my leftovers will taste better today. ANY ADVICE re: the pasilla pepper needing to be rehydrated?
I have to agree with momkat. I did expect much more from this considering the reviews on here as well as from the guests on the show. The dish is ok, but diffently not 5 star or even throwdown worthly in my opinion. I felt this dish led so close to Indian cuisine that I had to continue to remind myself that this is a “Southern Dish”. I wanted more Indian. I wanted more GM, curry and even more dried fruit. I think if more GM and curry was added as well a dried apricot and some more heat the dish would have been great; I guess that wouldn’t really be Country Captain then. I had most of the ingredients and spices so I didnt go out and spend alot to make this, but would be upset if I did. I’d be willing to try this recipe again given someone else made it, but I do not expect to make this again. If you like a thick tomatoy base stew with a hint of Indian spice you’d love this. It just didn’t tickle my fancy.