Cape Malay Coconut Cream Chicken Drumsticks
A slow-cooked chicken South African recipe with Cape Malay flavours
When visiting my wife's family in the Netherlands, I decided to take over the kitchen and host a proper South African evening for all her aunts, uncles, and extended family. My goal was to serve a dish that captured the soul of home—rich, aromatic, and deeply comforting. This Cape Malay Coconut Cream Chicken Drumsticks recipe was the absolute star of the night.
Cape Malay cuisine is famous for its unique fusion of fragrant warm spices, coconut, and sweet fruit accents like apricot jam and mango chutney. By browning the drumsticks and letting them slow-simmer in a lush coconut cream and chicken stock sauce, the meat becomes so tender it practically melts off the bone. Whether you simmer it slowly on the stovetop or let it gently transform in the oven, this South African curry delivers an irresistible flavour mix of savoury spice and subtle sweetness that will bring any gathering together.
Serves: 6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1½–2 hours
Ingredients to make Cape Malay Coconut Cream Chicken Drumsticks
12 chicken drumsticks
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
2 large onions, finely sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
40 g fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tomatoes, grated (or 1 x 400 g tin crushed tomatoes)
2 tbsp mild curry powder
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground fennel (optional)
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 x 400 ml cans coconut cream
250 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp apricot jam
2 tbsp mango chutney
½ lemon
(Optional) 2 tsp brown sugar
(Optional) 1 tbsp butter
(Optional) Banhoek Chilli Oil
(For serving) Fresh coriander, coconut flakes and almonds
Serve with basmati rice, naan bread or roti, sambals (a mix of tomato, onion and cucumber), and mango chutney on the side.
How to make Cape Malay Coconut Cream Chicken Drumsticks
Brown the chicken
Season the drumsticks generously with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a heavy casserole or Dutch oven and brown the drumsticks until golden on all sides.
Remove and set aside.
In the same pot cook the onions over medium-low heat for 12–15 minutes until
soft and lightly caramelised.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
Then, stir in tomato paste and grated tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until thick.
Add all the spices and cook gently for 1–2 minutes until fragrant.
Pour in coconut cream and chicken stock, and stir in apricot jam, mango chutney, lemon juice, (optional) brown sugar and season to taste.
Return the drumsticks to the pot. The chicken should be mostly submerged.
Cover and cook for one and a half to two hours on the stove on a low simmer, or in the oven on 60°C for about 2 hours.
The chicken is ready when it is exceptionally tender and can easily be removed off the bone with a fork.
Remove the lid for the last 15 minutes if you want a thicker sauce.
Taste and add salt, freshly ground pepper and lemon juice to taste.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe - I’d love to see it!
Serving suggestions
Just before serving, stir through 1 tablespoon of butter and drizzle a teaspoon of Banhoek Chilli Oil over each serving. The butter gives the curry a silky finish, while the chilli oil adds a gentle warmth without overpowering the Cape Malay spices.
Serve with fragrant basmati rice, warm buttered naan or homemade roti, and serve sambals (a mix of tomato, onion and cucumber), and mango chutney on the side.
Before serving, scatter fresh coriander, toasted coconut and almonds over the dish as a finishing touch.
More recipes
Below the newsletter block, you will find some more recipes.
There are a lot of different types of meats you can cook on the braai. How about this Prime Rib Roast with Exotic Mushroom Sauce and Pak Choy? You can also make a Leg of Lamb on the braai or a Lemon & Herb Peri-Peri and Rosemary Deboned Leg of Lamb. I’ve also made Ostrich Fillet Kebabs with Nectarine and Rosemary on the braai.
Other than meat, South Africans also love to put seafood on the braai. This braaied snoek recipe with plum jam is a winner.
If you’re looking for a side on the braai, you can either make this pull bread with pesto, mozzarella and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, or make traditional braai broodjies (keep an eye out for my secret ingredient). If you have leftover gammon, these gammon braai broodjies are also to die for.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
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