This recipe was given to me by a Jamaican friend. She was exactly this nonspecific with her measurements. I have tweaked this recipe to suit my family. Ingredients not traditionally in this meal are marked with **.

*The chicken is traditionally a whole fryer, cut up, bones left in. However, you can use whatever type of chicken suits you and yours, your personal preferences, or your budget. What type of chicken I use varies based on my mood and level of fatigue. Today I used bone-in leg quarters, that I personally deboned.

Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in a frying pan heated to medium high. A tbsp of veggie oil is standard, or you can spray the pan liberally with nonfat cooking spray if you're health conscious.

Keep in mind, if you're using bone-in chicken, it will add to your cook time eventually, but not here. You only want to brown your chicken on the outsides. It is actually preferred if it in still raw in the middle when you pull it out of the pan to drain. This will prevent you from overcooking your chicken.

While your chicken is cooking, prep your onion and peppers. sliced or chopped, its up to you. or, alternately, use frozen pepper and onion mix to save time. I do.

While your chicken drains, in a large stew pot, combine remaining ingredients. You want a squirt of ketchup and a dash of soy sauce and browning sauce. Add more ketchup for a sweeter, thicker sauce (add a cup of water if you want it sweeter but not thicker). Add more soy sauce for more salt. Add more browning sauce to darken.

If you added my additional can of tomatoes and hot sauce(to taste), your brown stew chicken will turn out reddish in color regardless of how much browning sauce you add so don't go overboard trying to make it brown. It can make your stew a touch bitter. Also if you want a little kick and not a lot, add your hot sauce close to when it is done, or completely after. Boiling it will intensify its spicy flavor.

Once your chicken has drained, incorporate it into the mixture. Set this to boil. You're basically going to boil until (1) your chicken is cooked though, and (2) until your stew has reached your desired thickness. It will take longer for thicker stew, and remember to stir it occasionally to prevent it from sticking on the bottom.

Serve this over plain white rice, and if you're feeling really traditional, with ginger beer.

*** Cook time will vary based on whether you use bone-in chicken and on how thick you want your stew. The amount of time listed is how much time I invested in this meal this particular time.