Kuku Paka - East African Chicken Curry

This fragrant East African chicken curry is not too far off from an Indian curry. It shows Indian influences on East African cuisine.

What Is Kuku Paka?

Kuku paka is a rich and creamy dish of chicken cooked in coconut milk and spices. It is popular in the coastal regions of East Africa, particularly Kenya and Tanzania. It is a shortened word for “kuku wa paka” or kuku ya paka” and is also known as Kenyan chicken curry.

Traditionally, the chicken used for Kuku paka is cooked slowly over the smoke pit or on the barbecue.  This one pot version is effortless and makes it easy to enjoy this delicious and comforting meal quickly. The creaminess and slight sweetness of the coconut milk works well with the spicy marinated chicken to give full-on flavor in this East African style curry.

How To Cook Kuku Paka

This are the ingredients you need...

• Onions 
• Ginger 
• Garlic
• Scotch bonnet
• Chopped tomatoes
• Coriander
• Mild curry powder
• Chicken
• Oil
• Coconut milk
• Salt 

A few things to note about the ingredients;

• Scotch bonnet: This is my go-to hot pepper as I always have some in my freezer. You can substitute with other peppers or just omit. Kuku paka is typically a mild curry, adapt the pepper and quantity to suit your taste.
• Chicken: Chicken thighs can be substituted with chicken breasts if preferred. Bite-sized chicken pieces also work well with this recipe and is particularly suited to children. If you have some time, you can grill the chicken in the oven before cooking to get some brown colour and smoky flavour.
• Other Ingredients: Like most recipes, this East African coconut chicken curry is quite adaptable.  Some recipes include boiled eggs, potatoes, and other vegetables. I have kept mine simple with just chicken, but feel free to add additional ingredients when you make yours. If you area adding eggs, boil, cut into two and cook in the simmering sauce.

How To Make It

Blend one onion, ginger, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, tomatoes, coriander powder and curry powder into a smooth paste in a food processor or blender.

Slash the chicken. Make around 3 slashes in which ever direction you prefer on each side. It is important to do this so the chicken can absorb the flavours quickly.

Rub some salt all over the chicken and place in a bowl.

Pour the blended paste over the chicken and mix thoroughly with your hands. Keep aside to marinate for 20 mins.

While the chicken is marinating; chop the remaining onion finely.

Heat the oil in a saucepan under medium heat.

Add the onions into the pan and cook until soft and translucent.

Remove the chicken pieces from the paste and add into the pan. Sear on each side to brown.

Add the left over paste into the pan, add the coconut milk and a little salt to taste.

Cover the pan. Allow sauce to cook and the flavors to develop. This should take around 20 mins. By this time, the sauce would have thickened with a lovely balance of flavours. If it becomes too thick for your liking, you may add some water to thin it out.

Remove from heat and garnish with coriander. Serve with your favourite flat bread or rice.

Related Recipes

If you are interested in East African recipes; you must check these out;

Matoke with Beans

Kachumbari - East African Tomato Salad

Irio with Caramelized Onions

Githeri

Kuku Paka Recipe

Abi Olayiwola

Delicious, one pot coconut chicken curry which originated from coastal regions of East Africa.

4.82 from 16 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Marinating Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine African, East African

Servings 4

Calories 474 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 Onions medium size
• 3 cm Ginger or thumb size
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 Scotch bonnet
• ½ can Chopped tomatoes or 2 beef tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Coriander
• 1 tablespoon Mild curry powder
• 4 legs Chicken
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• ½ can Coconut milk or 200ml
• Salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Blend one onion, ginger, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, tomatoes, coriander powder and curry powder into a paste in a food processor.
• Slash the chicken. Make around 3 slashes in which ever direction you prefer on each side. Rub some salt all over the chicken and place in a bowl.
• Pour the the blended paste over the chicken and mix thoroughly with your hands. Keep aside to marinate for 20 mins.
• While the chicken is marinating; chop the remaining onion finely.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan under medium heat.
• Add the onions into the pan and cook until soft and translucent.
• Remove the chicken pieces from the paste and add into the pan. Sear on each side to brown.
• Add the left over paste into the pan, add the coconut milk and a little salt to taste.
• Cover the pan. Allow sauce to cook and the flavors to develop. This should take around 20 mins but is dependent on whether you are using soft or hard chicken. Hard chicken will take longer to cook properly.
• Remove from heat and serve with coriander garnish.

Nutrition

Calories: 474kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 23gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 192mgPotassium: 598mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 220IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 4mg

Keyword Kenyan chicken curry, Kuku paka

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