First of all, how much brown sugar to use? I guess it depends on how dark you like it, but a safe estimate is about 2 to 2 ½ tablespoons to 3lbs meat. The estimates I give here are for this amount of meat. If you get it too dark with too much sugar it’s difficult to go back but if it’s too light it’s simple to darken up. You develop even more colour and flavour when you let the meat “fry” in the sugar. Keep in mind that kids may not like too much of the burnt sugar taste and may prefer a lighter flavour profile.
Then you think, “oil or no oil in the pot to brown the sugar?” Again, it’s up to you. Oil isn’t necessary but I like to use a little (1 tbsp) to give the sugar a kick-start and also to help crisp/fry the meat, developing great flavour. No oil is healthier for sure.
Many have problems with caramelising the sugar. You have to watch it like it’s a sick child - Even though it’s looking fine one minute, turn your back and you have an emergency on your hands! It has to go past that lovely caramel colour and get to a more dark brown stage with reddish brown edges. If some light bits remain that’s ok, it’s better to be under than over with the sugar. Keep the meat close-by and throw it in all at once and not too high up from the pot of course as you’ll burn yourself with hot sugar splashing up at you.
The seasoning of the meat is up to you. Some people like to do a full green seasoning work up together with garlic, salt, black pepper,pimentos(seasoning pepper),ginger and even put in their fresh tomatoes and onions while seasoning. I’ve learnt a general seasoning for meat from my mother and everything else gets put in while the meat is being cooked – salt, black pepper, fresh garlic and Spanish thyme. This means that you can do different things with meat that’s seasoned in advance, in one way.
So, you have to really let the meat cook on high heat with a lot of attention( to prevent burning) until it’s dry. This is when I add in tomatoes, celery, ginger( I peel my ginger, keep it in the freezer and grate on a microblade as I need it), small-leaved thyme, parsley, bandania, tomatoes and onions. Give it a good stir and rehydrate the pot with coconut milk( an entire packet rehydrated). The coconut milk really balances out the flavours. The liquid should reach about the same height as the meat reaches. Reduce the heat to medium high and cover for 15 mins...uncover and cook until the sauce is how you want it (thick/thin/nonexistent).
To ketchup or not to ketchup- I love what it adds to the pot. If you’ve gone too far with the sugar process it can be used to try fixing the bitter taste, but even when there’s no problem with the sugar, a couple tablespoons of ketchup does help bring everything together. That said, when I’m preparing stew to go along with dhal soup or alongside curried dishes, I reduce or leave it out completely as I think the flavours compete with each other. For these purposes, the fresh tomatoes alone work well.
Stew-cut chicken does not take long to cook. By the time the sauce reduces it would be done. If you’re close to the end of the process and you think you’d like it darker, splash in some browning or a little soy sauce adds colour and great flavour. It is optional but, a tablespoon of that rich orange-coloured butter at the end of the cooking process does wonders to a stew! Taste for salt after this and add as needed. Finish with a heavy sprinkling of chopped chives (or parsley or bandania….. or all!) and it’s ready!
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Until next time. :)
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