Recipe courtesy of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger

Aji de Gallina (Chicken in a Spicy Sauce)

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings
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Ingredients

1 large frying chicken (about 3 1/2 4 pounds)

1 leek, trimmed, washed and chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

1 tomato, chopped

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 tablespoon peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 cups soft bread crumbs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon yellow Aji, Amarillo or Chile powder

1/3 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 pounds small potatoes, boiled, peeled and halved

4 hard-boiled eggs, halved

Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions

  1. Place chicken in a large pot and fill with water to halfway up sides of bird. Add leek, onion, carrot, tomato, salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and place in a bowl until cool enough to remove the meat from the bones and shred into bitesize pieces. Meanwhile, strain broth and reserve 4 cups. 
  2. Soak the bread in the milk. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and saute for 1 more minute. Add softened bread and aji or chile powder, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring. (For a creamier sauce, place onion-bread mixture in a blender, puree until smooth and return to skillet.) Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and continue cooking until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. 
  3. Add the chicken and simmer for 5 to 8 more minutes, adding more stock if needed. Stir in the walnuts and Parmesan cheese, and simmer gently for another 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly. To serve, spoon chicken and sauce onto a serving platter and surround with potatoes and eggs. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Luv2cook125

Excellent! We love Peruvian food so was excited to try this recipe. I cheated a little here and did not boil a full bird - there’s only two of us and it just didn’t make sense to make that much so I just skipped the first step altogether and instead took two large breasts and simmered them with everything until the chicken was fall apart tender. I also did not add the leek or carrot, but only because I didn’t have them. I did have Aji Amarillo paste (Amazon if you can’t find it at the store) and added more to taste to get it to the heat level we like. I also made it a one pot meal and just put some cut up potatoes in the pot towards the end to cook with everything else and absorb that fabulous broth. <br /><br />I know some are saying that this recipe may not be authentic, but honestly, good food is good food, and authentic or not it’s a delicious nod to Peruvian cuisine!

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