The Infamous Country Captain

Otherwise Known As Curried Chicken Stew!

Country Captain: the most iconic dish of Columbus, Georgia?!

Picking up where we left off…remember I am from Columbus, Georgia, and I went on to tackle mastering perhaps the lone iconic dish of my hometown: Country Captain. I first created a recipe for Emeril’s Potluck cookbook, and then for my own restaurant The Glass Onion (we are almost to that chapter in my origin story, promise!).

If you are unfamiliar with Country Captain, it’s a curried chicken stew that has stories tracing it all the way back to India where British officers were called “Country Captains.” Supposedly, one such officer brought the recipe with him to Savannah, Georgia and thus a culinary legend was born. This part is a bit up for debate, but via some internet sleuthing and a terrific article in Southern Living, I discovered that a dish called Country Captain made an appearance in Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book in 1857. Then  at the turn of the century Alessandro Filippini, the chef of Delmonico's Restaurant (in New York City) expanded upon it and included it in his cookbook. 

Then in some crazy turn of events, Southern Living  reports that a Mrs. William Bullard of Warm Springs and Columbus, Georgia, ordered a copy of this cookbook and chose Country Captain to be cooked for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who spent significant time in Warm Springs thanks to the reported healing qualities of the springs. The dish was supposedly not cooked by Bullard herself but rather by her cook Arie Mullins, an African American woman working for her at the time. So perhaps, it’s Mullins who deserves credit for elevating the dish to its esteemed stature that led to it being a must at any “covered dish occasion” in Columbus, Georgia! 

I have to admit I was not a fan of this dish during my childhood, which is somewhat surprising as I was a very open and courageous eater! However, I do think there are some lesser versions out there. Thankfully my family’s enthusiasm for it prompted me to revisit Country Captain during my time in Emeril’s test kitchen and then again at my own restaurant and now once more for this newsletter. 

I tackled testing it last week – looking at both versions I had written in the past. I decided on one change immediately. Rather than using a whole chicken (cut into eight pieces), I simply used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs! Really to me, these chicken thighs are the ideal cut of chicken for any stew! And they are so affordable. :) 

I tested it using only four chicken thighs (as that’s what I had in the freezer), and I had another epiphany! I rather enjoyed having the extra sauce (my original recipe called for eight pieces of chicken). The sauce is just so delicious that I enjoy serving each thigh with an abundance of sauce! If you wind up with too much sauce you could also use leftover sauce to recreate the dish using shrimp instead of chicken. On that note, this sauce is actually quite amazing with shrimp, which is also a great option for pescetarians! If you were to only use shrimp (and not chicken) I would recommend a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp thrown into the sauce once it is finished and cooked until just pink (just a few minutes)! 

Other changes…

• I have begun to dry brine most of the protein I cook – so seasoning with salt and pepper and allowing it to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours before cooking. This dish would greatly benefit from this technique, and I do mention it at the beginning of the recipe.

  I would also recommend dry brining if you are using shrimp! For shrimp I dry brine one pound with 1 teaspoon salt and pinch of baking soda! I also throw in some black pepper so they are already seasoned. This dry brine gives the shrimp an excellent texture when cooked!

• The Country Captain recipes I grew up with always called for dusting the chicken in flour, but if you are gluten averse this is not entirely necessary (or you could use your favorite gluten-free flour). The flour does help the sauce thicken, but it honestly thickens quite well on its own.

• I started making my own curry powder a few years back, and it’s a total game changer. I know it’s another step, but honestly once you have this curry powder in your pantry you will use it on everything – from grilled meats (like pork chops and lamb) to pots of braised beans/lentils! But of course you can use store-bought curry powder – no judgment! You will see my recipe for curry powder below the Country Captain recipe.

• Finally, I increased the raisins in this rendition as I love them, but if you are a raisin hater you could use a little less! 

A few last notes…I realize that offering up a chicken stew recipe in mid-August when the southern United States is scorching might seem a bit crazy, but this is just where the dish falls in my origin story. Also, I have to admit that with all the changes I have going on in my life I could use a bit of comfort food, and any sort of stew over rice is the ultimate comfort food for me! 

Finally, about the wine! I would highly recommend serving this dish with a semi-aromatic white wine like a dry Riesling from Germany, or here I have it pictured with Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Scheurebe blend from Burklin Wolf in southern Germany. The aromatics of this wine just worked wonders with the sweet/savory spice of this dish. In the past, I have also enjoyed it with my good friend Dan Petroski’s wine: Massican Annia that is a blend of Ribolla Gialla, Tocai Friulano, and Chardonnay from California. This is also a semi-aromatic white blend that creates a pairing where the sum is even greater than the parts (which is the ultimate goal always)! 

Feel free to message me for any pairing/cooking questions. Cheers!!

Sarah’s Country Captain

4 bone-in chicken thighs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) freshly ground black pepper

½ cup olive oil (or your preferred oil)

1 ½ cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium onion)

1 cup chopped green bell pepper (1 medium pepper)

1 cup chopped celery (about 4 stalks)

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon curry powder, preferably homemade, recipe below 

1 teaspoon extra concentrated tomato paste (found in tube at grocery!)

Pinch of red pepper flakes 

2 28-ounce cans (6 cups) of whole peeled tomatoes, crushed with their juices

1 cup chicken stock (or water), plus more as needed

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 

3 bay leaves

Bundle of fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

¾  cup raisins or dried currants 

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted 

Season chicken thighs liberally with salt and pepper to your desire. And allow to rest in the refrigerator for two hours if you have time. (You can also simply season immediately before breading, but flavor will not permeate chicken as much.)

Combine the flour, paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a large shallow dish and stir to blend. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, coating evenly. Shake off any excess. Set aside.

Heat 6 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook the chicken, in batches, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain; set aside.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the saucepan and add onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, curry powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, 5 to 10 minutes. (Add more oil if vegetables begin to stick.) Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.

Add the tomatoes (after crushing them with your hands in a large bowl along with the juice from the can), chicken stock (or water), brown sugar, Worcestershire, bay leaves, and thyme bundle, and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir to blend, bring to a simmer. Add the butter and stir to melt. Add the chicken and cook at a simmer, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not falling off the bones, about 50 minutes. Add the raisins and cook for 5 minutes longer, until they are plump. Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Honestly, I find that tomato sauces need a good bit of salt to bring them into balance (and I added 2 more teaspoons to mine)! But I also know that some folks are more sensitive to salt so taste at the end according to your own palate. You can also of course increase the red pepper flakes or garnish with hot sauce if you prefer more spiciness in your life! 

Remove thyme bundle and bay leaves.

Serve hot over steamed white rice. Garnish with the almonds.

Yield: 4 servings (perhaps with leftover sauce!) 

P.S. A perfect soundtrack for this dish would have to be all the variants of the song “Georgia on My Mind.” My favorites are Oscar Peterson’s instrumental jazz version and Willie Nelson’s rendition.

Sarah’s DIY Curry Powder

¼ cup coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon black pepper

¼  teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Toast first three ingredients in a small skillet over medium low heat until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes (careful not to burn)! Allow to cool and then grind in a spice grinder (or clean coffee grinder). Combine with other ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Yield: About ¾ cup