Kuku Paka is an East African staple at dinner table in the Halal Food Guru household. It is a traditional creamy coconut curry rich in spices with grilled chicken. The dish perfectly merges cooking traditions from all the local ethnic groups that live in the area. It pulls from African, Middle-Eastern and Indian cooking traditions to create one harmonious and delicious meal.   

Whenever Mrs Halal Food Guru makes it for us, the aroma and tastes remind me of the stories my father would tell us about his childhood on the paradise spice Island of Zanzibar.

He would tell us about the palm trees swaying in the light breeze originating from the Indian Ocean as he walked home from school. He would describe for us the hurried farmers passing him on their bicycles to be the first to the local market. The large weaved palm tree leave baskets filled with fresh cloves on the back of their bikes would wobble back and forth as they struggled to maintain balance on the uneven dirt road.  

 He often ended his stories about his childhood by saying,

“You can take the Zanzibari out of Zanzibar, but you can never take Zanzibar out of the heart of a Zanzibari”.

Eating these traditional dishes has been a way for us to stay connected to our roots.

Today, in this post, I’d like to share this recipe with you. I recently had the privilege to speak with Mrs Dalia Colon of the NPR podcast The Zest as we explored the Halal Food Scene in Florida. She is such an amazingly positive person to speak with about food and the Foodie culture in Florida. She asked me about favorite childhood dishes and this came to mind immediately. She was excited for me to share it.

So I present to you Mrs Halal Food Guru’s recipe for you to try. I hope you enjoy it as much was we do.

kuku paka

Kuku Paka a traditional East African Dish with chicken in a coconut curry

Ingredients

1lb chicken cut into pieces

1 can of coconut milk

2 large diced tomato

1 large chopped onion

1 tsp salt

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

2 finely crushed fresh green chillies

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp freshly chopped green coriander

3 tsp-4 tsp oil

Directions

In a Blender, mix green chilies, lemon juice, 2 large diced tomato and 1 chopped onion to make a thick paste

Place paste in a pot with 3-4 tsp of oil and simmer for 2-3 minutes until oil separates from paste

Add to the pot the cleaned chicken pieces, ginger paste and garlic paste

On low heat, allow chicken to begin to cook and then add salt and tumeric

Continue to cook chicken for a few minutes.

Add whole can of coconut milk and half can of water

Cook until chicken is cooked through and tender. Coconut curry should become thick.

Pour into serving bowl and top with coriander as garnish

Serve hot and enjoy over a bed of rice

 

kuku paka

Enjoy this thick creamy chicken coconut curry with family and friends.

 

If you tried this, let me know how it turned out in the comments below. If it didn’t turn out, no worries there are plenty of Halal restaurants across Florida eager to fill your growling tummy. Be sure to check out the site for some suggestions and some of my TOP 5 lists. You can always follow me on Instagram, Twitter or YouTube or sign up for the email newsletter to be the first to know when a new post is published.