Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Aji de gallina or chicken in a spicy sauce, a peruvian recipe

I love aji de gallina (in the picture on the right side of the rice), is a rich, creamy and full of flavor dish. I dare uninitiated guests with this classic Peruvian dish and generally everyone likes it. Living in Chile is something easy to find on many restaurants and as it is comfort food you can find many different recipes with slightly different ingredients.

Aji de gallina
for 6 persons
Ingredients:

  • 6 half chicken breasts or 3 whole chicken breasts
  • 8 slices of whit bread without crust
  • 1 cup chicken broth, you can use the one left after cooking the chicken
  • 2 large onions, diced and sauteed
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 2 tablespoons cream cheese
  • 2/3 cup of walnuts
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 green chili (thai) or jalapeno, seeded
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper
 Directions:
  1. The day before, cook the chicken in cold water with salt, pepper and celery or parsley for 25 minutes. Cool and saved about 2 cups of broth. When chicken is cool sheared into small pieces of 3x1 cm or 1". Saute the onions in the pan with 1 teaspoon oil, no salt.
  2. In the blender put bread, chicken broth, turmeric, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, evaporated milk, sauteed onions, walnuts, green chili, salt and pepper. Blend until a creamy, taste and adjust salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a pot.
  3. Mix the chicken with the sauce and heat, adjust the consistency of the sauce with evaporated milk or leftover chicken broth, it should be like a thick chili. Serve.

Recipe adapted from Peruvian cookbook by Emilio Peschiera and my mother in law recipe.