What's for Dinner? Chicken Roti!

The beautiful British Virgin Islands

In 2008 we took a wonderful trip to the British Virgin Islands with our good friends.  We rented an amazing house on Tortola and boated around the islands.  It was so fun and we discovered that pretty much everywhere we went to eat, they had this thing called Roti on the menu.  It turned out, that Roti is this delicious curried chicken or vegetable stew.  Most of the time, it was served wrapped in a sort of tortilla that was made from chickpea meal, and then topped with mango chutney.  The girls loved it so much, at least one of us ordered it every time we went out.  We got really excited once, near the beginning of our discovery of Roti, when one of the little hole-in-the-wall places we went declared that their roti was (insert Caribbean accent) "the best on the island, man". Well, we heard that at almost every other subsequent place we went!  Inside island joke, I guess. But, it was all good and I'm glad we discovered a new taste on that great trip.

You want me to eat WHAT??

I came up with this recipe when I got home, because I was craving that Roti!  The chickpea tortilla is impossible to recreate (especially for a non-baker like myself), so you can use any kind of flour tortilla you like, or I just serve it as a stew or sometimes put it in a pita pocket.  If you do try the "burrito" tortilla method and you are in to chutneys, buy a bottled one and spoon it over the top: the others in the group loved it (it just breaks my fruit and meat rule, so I passed on it!).  If you want to do a vegetarian version, omit the chicken and add cauliflower and chickpeas. I would love to tell you Finn ate his up, but that would not be the case.  Someday! 

If you ever get a chance to go to the BVIs, GO!  It is a wonderful place and I can't wait to go back soon.  Enjoy your new taste of the islands!

"Best on the Island" Chicken Roti

Serves 4

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced or sliced
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced (depending on how much garlic you like!)
• 3 chicken breasts, diced
• 1 large or 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
• a few dashes of habanero hot sauce, to taste (I found a great Caribbean Scotch Bonnet hot sauce in the hot sauce isle at our grocery store)
• 1 teaspoon salt (omit if not using low sodium chicken broth!)
• black pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken broth
• flour tortillas or pitas
• jarred mango chutney (optional)

Heat half of the oil in large saucepan.  Saute onions and carrots until soft.  Add in garlic and cook for another minute.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.  In same skillet, add rest of the oil and saute chicken and potatoes together until they are browned and chicken is cooked through.  Add onion mixture back in.  Add curry powder, salt, pepper and hot sauce.  Stir to coat.  Add chicken broth (should just about cover the contents, if not, add water until it does) and turn down heat.  Simmer until sauce thickens and potatoes are fully cooked, about 30-45 minutes.  Add more broth or water if it gets too thick. Take off heat and let sit about 5 minutes prior to serving, to let the sauce thicken more.  Spoon on tortilla or pita and top with chutney (if desired). ENJOY!  

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