In its basic form, country captain is a mild stew made with browned chicken pieces, onions, and curry powder.

[4] Country captain originated in India as a simple spatchcock poultry or game recipe involving onions and curry and possibly enjoyed by British officers.

[4][5] One theory is that an early 19th-century British sea captain, possibly from the East India Company,[6] working in the spice trade introduced it to the American South via the port of Savannah.

[7] In 1991, The New York Times columnist Molly O'Neill researched the origin of the dish known as country captain,[8] which had been a steady feature in southern cookbooks since the 1950s.

[9] Fans of the dish have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, who encountered country captain while visiting the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia.

[9] A variety of Southern chefs have recipes for the dish, including Paul Prudhomme,[12] Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse.