Colombo is Martinique's flagship spice powder. It is a mixture of turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cloves, cumin, pepper, mustard seeds and garlic. If it is very close to curry, it remains less spicy.
Colombo owes its name to its land of origin, a region of present-day Sri Lanka which had been named Colombo in homage to Christopher Columbus. It was after Indian immigration that the colombo would have arrived in Martinique and that it would have been fully integrated into the local cuisine. Today, chicken colombo is one of the essential dishes of Martinique, the other islands of the French Antilles and Reunion Island.
Ingredients
For 6 servings:
- 6 chicken thighs
- 2 onions
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 teaspoons of colombo powder
- 3 medium sized potatoes
- 2 medium carrots
- Fresh parsley
- Juice of one lemon
- 2 sheets of allspice
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 chilli (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of white rum or old rum (optional)
Preparation
- The day before, prepare your chicken for marinating in a container, preferably removing the skin of the chicken and the yellowish fat.
- Pour in the lemon juice then add the diced onion, the spoon of rum, a teaspoon of colombo, the 2 leaves of allspice, the previously chopped garlic clove, salt and pepper.
- Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- In a sauté pan, brown the chicken then set it aside.
- Take advantage to brown the onions, the potatoes cut into small cubes and the carrots grated and sliced in the same pan.
- Add the chicken, the 2nd spoonful of colombo and the chopped parsley.
- Cover with water and simmer for a quarter of an hour, covering.
- At the end of cooking, you can add the chili if you want to eat even more spicy.
- You can serve!