Peruvian Gold Chicken (Ají de Gallina)

This creamy, comforting stew dish from Peru combines poached chicken, yellow chilli paste and cheese to make flavourful pot of gold.

Consider it the only Inca gold worth knowing about. Ají de Gallina is a traditional favourite dish in Peru, combining indigenous and European ideas to make a literal pot of gold. The signature ingredient of this dish is ‘ají amarillo’, a special variety of yellow chilli peppers that are native to Peru. These chillies are very hard to come by fresh, so buy a paste online [BEST BUY]. You can also get seeds and grow them - as a chilli they have a very unique flavour that’s very hard to replicate. ‘Ají amarillo’ have a deep woody aroma and a prickly heat that takes you by surprise. You’d never expect something so yellow and sunny to be so fierce in heat! The chicken in this dish is poached in chicken stock and then shredded, before being added into the sauce. The addition of parmesan is highly recommended; it adds a funky aroma and umaminess akin to many regional Peruvian cheeses that are traditionally added. Serve this stew like they do it in Peru: a scoop of white rice, black olives and a hardboiled egg. Many Peruanos swear by adding potatoes to the sauce too - a true carb-fest that’s worth bookmarking for winter at least! Let’s go!

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4x)

• 2x chicken breasts

• 500ml water

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1x chicken stock cube or 2 tsps chicken stock powder

• 4x bay leaves

• 1x onion, halved

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2x cloves garlic, sliced

• 1-3 tablespoons Ají Amarillo paste [BEST BUY] (could substitute with 1x yellow bell pepper and 1 tsp chilli powder, blended to a paste

• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

• 150ml evaporated milk

• 1x tablespoon of parmesan cheese, grated finely

• 2 tablespoons walnuts or pecans

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 2 tsps lime juice, or to taste

• 1 tsp sugar, or to taste

• To serve: boiled potatoes, white rice, hardboiled eggs, black olives

WALKTHROUGH

1. First we’ll poach the chicken. Place 500ml of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the 2x chicken breasts followed immediately by the 1/2 tsp salt, 1x chicken stock cube/2 tsps stock powder, 4x bay leaves and 1/2 onion. Allow the pan to return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

   

2. Remove the poached chicken and allow it to cool. Reserve 300ml of the poaching liquid and discard the rest. Using 2 forks, shred the cool chicken into bitesize pieces and set aside.

3. Before we start the sauce, lets grind the nuts. Place the 2 tablespoons of walnuts/pecans into a blender or food processor and blend to a fine crumb. You may also do this with a knife or a pestle and mortar. Combine the ground nuts with 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and set this mixture aside.

   

4. Now we’ll make the ají amarillo sauce. In a frying or casserole, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 diced onion and 2x sliced cloves of garlic and place over medium heat. Allow the garlic to gently fry until it just begins to turn brown at the edges.

5. Add the 1-3 tablespoons of ají amarillo paste, depending on your heat tolerance. Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium-low heat to bloom its flavour.

   

   

6. Add the breadcrumb-nut mixture and stir until it binds to the chill paste. Fry for 1 minute.

   

7. Gradually add the reserved 300ml of chicken poaching liquid, stirring it in to form a thickened sauce with the breadcrumb-nut mixture. Once the poaching liquid is added, add the 150ml of evaporated milk. Bring the sauce to a boil.

   

   

   

8. Add the shredded chicken breasts, a tablespoon of parmesan cheese and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Stir until combined and simmer for 5 minutes on low heat to marry the ingredients.

   

9. Taste for seasoning, making adjustments with salt, pepper, sugar and/or lime juice to taste.

   

10. Serve the ají de Gallina with steamed white rice and/or boiled potatoes, and a traditional topping of sliced, hardboiled eggs and chopped black olives. Enjoy!