Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room ★ 4.7
Mrs. Wilkes has run from a Jones Street basement since 1943, $35 communal Southern home cooking at ten-person tables. Sweet potato souffle, cash or check.
Try: Communal-table Southern lunch
History
Country Captain entered Lowcountry cookbooks in the 1820s, attributed to a sea captain from the British East India trade who carried curry powder from the colonial spice routes back through the port of Savannah. The dish became codified at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room and the Olde Pink House through the late 19th century. Its profile is distinctly Lowcountry: curry powder rather than fresh garam masala, sweet currants for fruit, bell pepper rather than chili, and the obligatory Major Grey's mango chutney. Franklin D. Roosevelt is said to have requested it at his Warm Springs visits.
Common allergens: Gluten, Nuts (almonds)
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (1.5 to 1.8kg), cut into 8 pieces (or 8 bone-in skin-on thighs and drumsticks)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 75g all-purpose flour, well seasoned with salt and pepper
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 large yellow onions, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp Madras-style curry powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- Pinch of cayenne
- 1 can (400g) good Italian whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
- 250ml chicken stock
- 80g dried currants or sultanas
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 60g toasted blanched almonds, sliced or slivered
- 60g toasted unsweetened shredded coconut (optional but traditional)
- To serve: 400g cooked long-grain white rice, mango chutney (Major Grey's), 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Method
- Pat the chicken pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. Dredge in the seasoned flour, shake off excess.
- Heat the butter and oil in a wide heavy ovenproof pan over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces in two batches, skin-side first, for 4 minutes per side until deeply golden. Lift onto a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium. In the same pan, soften the onions for 8 minutes until pale gold. Add the bell peppers and cook 6 more minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, allspice and cayenne; cook for 90 seconds to bloom the spices.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and chicken stock, scrape the pan, add the currants, brown sugar and thyme.
- Nestle the browned chicken pieces back into the sauce in a single layer, skin-side up.
- Cover loosely with a lid set slightly ajar, transfer to a 175 degrees Celsius oven and braise for 45 minutes, until the chicken is tender and pulls easily from the bone.
- Lift the chicken pieces out; reduce the sauce on the stovetop for 10 minutes until thickened to coat a spoon. Return the chicken to the pan to rewarm.
- Plate a generous mound of hot rice on each plate, lay 1 to 2 pieces of chicken on top, ladle over the spiced sauce.
- Scatter with toasted almonds, optional coconut, and parsley. Serve with a small dish of mango chutney on the side.
Tip from the editors. Use a quality Madras curry powder (Bolst's or Spice Hunter); supermarket-generic curry powder is too mild and the dish reads as tomato-stewed chicken instead. The toasted almonds and currants are non-negotiable; they are the structural Lowcountry signature.
Where to eat country captain
Country Captain in Savannah
The Olde Pink House ★ 4.6
The Olde Pink House occupies a 1771 Georgian mansion on Reynolds Square. Formal upstairs dining and Planters Tavern walk-up basement, Balish 1992 restoration.
Sisters of the New South ★ 4.7
Sisters of the New South on Skidaway Rd in Eastside is the cafeteria-line soul-food kitchen plating oxtails, fried chicken, and stewed greens at lunch.
Why locals love it: Out on Skidaway in residential Eastside; off the tourist trail; cafeteria-line service.
Tip: Lunch only; arrive by 12:30 to beat the office crowd. Oxtails go fast on Fridays.
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