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These earthy and slightly sweet Trinidad chicken drummies are sure to be a hit! Here’s a one-skillet dinner that’s easy and family friendly.
Chicken drumsticks were on sale for 99 cents last week and naturally, I bought some. I wanted to make something different from the usual with these so I went searching for some chicken recipes.
I found the original on Allrecipes. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of cilantro unless it’s part of an oniony or garlicky base and also if the recipe isn’t heavy handed with it. This recipe seemed to fill the bill and from what commenters said, it was good and pretty much authentic.
The recipe calls for short marination, but from reading the comments from some native Trinidadians, you get better flavor if you marinate overnight. I didn’t do that, but I can see how it would produce a better end result, as would making a paste out of the marinade ingredients and rubbing into the chicken as one commenter suggested. However, you cook the marinade–which is dry by the way–with the chicken, so you get a lot of flavor. But armed with these suggestions, you can make a choice of what to do regarding marinating.
However, the short marination works well for making a speedy supper. It cooks all in one skillet so there’s another big bonus.
You can make this with a zip too if you include the red pepper flakes. I didn’t but I may on the reheated leftovers.
The original recipe made the coconut milk optional, but I’m sure the recipe would suffer with less flavor without it. Since it’s not something that a lot of people have in their cupboards, I’m keeping it as an optional ingredient here. I used it in mine and it made the sauce creamy and evened out the flavor IMO.
This is one that will get better served the next day because the herbs will get a chance to infuse more, so make a big batch with “planned overs” in mind.
Trinidad Chicken Drummies
Ingredients
- 2 lbs about 8-10 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup coconut milk optional
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes optional
MARINADE
- 3 tbsp finely chopped green onions
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tbsp finely chopped onion
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Place chicken on a plate.
- Mix marinade ingredients and sprinkle over chicken. Let chicken stand and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a large deep pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved and syrupy.
- Brown the chicken on all sides. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
- Mix the ketchup, chicken stock, coconut milk (if using) and red pepper flakes (if using),
- Pour over chicken, bring to boil. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm or place in a 200 degree F oven to keep warm.
- Turn heat to high and reduce the sauce by half (about 5-10 minutes_
- Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.
- Nice with rice
Nutrition
Liz says
Sounds nice. Thank you
Melissa Sperka says
These look amazing Judy!
Judith Hanneman says
<3 Melissa!!!