Colonel’s Curry Crunch - East meets West

The newest product on the KFC menu, Colonel’s Curry Crunch, has been given high accolades from fast food consumers willing to try the unusual curry dish.

Curried chicken ranks among the most favoured local dishes served in every Trinbagonian household. Locally, curried chicken is cooked in a savoury paste incorporating the flavours of caramboulay leaves, turmeric, cardamon, chili powder, cumin, fenugreek, coriander and a host of other spices. The result is a saucy, moist chicken with a very spicy flavour.

The idea of a dried, fried, curried chicken in TT really did not catch on with Trinis who were accustomed to the saucy chicken dish, but KFC decided to take a different culinary approach in preparing the now popular chicken.

Kurtis Rudd, Marketing Manager of Prestige Holdings Ltd told Sunday Newsday the new spiced chicken was not like the traditional curry Trinidadians have grown to love, since it has more of an Eastern tandoori finish. As far as sales over the last two weeks were concerned, Rudd said, the Curry Crunch had returned “a high menu mix” with customers making repeat purchases at restaurants nationwide. “The Curry Crunch is expected to be one of our more successful products,” he said.

Rudd described the chicken’s taste as “a new and exciting flavour that combines the mystery of the East and the tasty curry sensation already loved by Trinbagonians”.

The taste, he said, was developed to suit the TT taste profile and was tested among consumer groups over a few months.

He told Sunday Newsday the curry-based chicken was not a first time flavour for international KFC since, curried chicken had already hit KFC menus in Thailand and Malaysia last year. He added however, that TT’s curry recipe was developed with the taste buds of Caribbean people in mind, so that the blend of herbs and spices used were different from those in the Eastern recipies.

Since the marinade for the chicken was made from a combination of spices, unlike the local curry powder, Rudd said KFC’s curried chicken was not likely to cause sudden bowel movements.

At the launch two weeks ago, professional interior decorator, Kemal Manickchand used his master touch to transform the first floor of KFC’s, Independence Square branch into a depiction of an Eastern palace.

The decor, which was made to reflect India’s tradition, included classical musicians seated atop raised platforms and several rangoolee arrangements — an artform using coloured rice to form geometric patterns. The rangoolee designs, said Manickchand, were in the form of lotus flowers which represented food in the traditional Indian culture.

In true Eastern style, local dancer, Susan Badree used a peacock’s feather to drizzle rose water on guests as they entered the dining area, the rose water in Eastern culture, perfumed the air and represents a symbol of harmony.

Devani Ramnath presented guests with candy, another form of East Indian welcome.

Just before guests were invited to partake of the Colonel’s Curry Crunch for the first time in TT, the Clico Shiv Shakti dance group entertained guests with an enchanting, rhythmical dance against the backdrop of a depiction of the Taj Mahal.