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Kuku Paka Coconut Curry

An East African dish that has Arabic and Indian influences, creamy from the coconut milk, spiced with green chilies and sour from lemon and tamarind. Chicken is marinated and charred ideally over a coal grill and served with this delicious sauce. Really easy to make with Masala Mama’s Coconut Curry that has tamarind in it already.

Prep time: 10 minutes 
Inactive time: 2- 6 hours
Cook time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 4

Ingredients

1½ - 2 lbs chicken drumsticks, trimmed 

Marinade:

2 plum tomatoes
1 small onion or large shallot
4 cloves of garlic
1½” ginger, peeled 
4 – 6 green chilies (approx.1 jalapeno or 2 serrano peppers)*
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt

Sauce:

1 jar Masala Mama Coconut Curry
1 – 1½ cup coconut milk
¼ - ½ cup chicken stock
2 lemon/lime
Fresh cilantro for garnish
Salt to taste

Directions

  1. Score each chicken piece in 2 or 3 places, slicing about a half-inch into the meat.

  2. In a food processor, combine and puree tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, green chilies. Mix in salt and oil.  Put the chicken pieces into a large zip-lock bag and add the marinade. Seal the bag and give the chicken a gentle massage, rubbing the marinade into the cuts and under the skin. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

  3. Once marinated, remove the chicken from the marinade, saving the marinade and grill the chicken, turning over as needed until chicken is well colored, charred and cooked through. 

  4. Meanwhile add the saved marinade to a large pot and cook until most of the water has evaporated and the marinade is cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Add Masala Mama Coconut Curry, 1 cup of coconut milk and ¼ cup chicken stock. 

  5. Add the grilled chicken, bring to a simmer and cook, shaking the pan every once in a while, until the flavors have melded, about 10 minutes. 

  6. Add more chicken stock if too thick and adjust coconut milk and salt to taste. 

  7. Just before serving, add a generous squeeze of lemon juice, garnish with fresh cilantro and some lemon/lime wedges. 

  8. Serve with rice, naan or nice crusty bread. Here’s a recipe for Mama’s Perfect Basmati Rice. 

*You can deseed the chillies if you want a milder sauce

TIP: Heat naan on a hot cast iron skillet or directly on the flame till it gets a few brown spots and top it with some butter.