Ají de gallina

Ingredientes

• 600 g of chicken breast
• 600 ml of chicken stock
• 40 ml of oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, large, minced
• 1 pinch of ground cumin, large
• 1 pinch of turmeric, large
• 2 aji amarillo chillies, seeds and filaments removed, or aji paste (1 tbsp) – If you can’t find fresh or paste, use dry aji mirasol, which is in essence dried aji amarillo
• 5 slices of bread, crusts removed, or 6 cream crackers
• 60 g of walnuts, or pecans, toasted and roughly ground
• 50 g of Parmesan, grated
• 170 ml of evaporated milk
• salt
• pepper
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled
• 60 g of olives
• 4 potatoes, peeled and boiled
• brown rice, cooked according to preference

Preparación

1. 1

   Poach the chicken breasts in the chicken stock for 20 minutes. Drain, shred and reserve. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the other ingredients

2. 2

   In a saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin and finely chopped Aji Amarillo or paste. Fry this until the onions are cooked and slightly golden

3. 3

   Soak the bread or cream crackers in 2 cups of the stock from the poached chicken and place in a blender for a couple of minutes and then add this mixture to the pan with the onion mix

4. 4

   Cook slowly for 10 minutes, stirring until slightly thickened

5. 5

   Add the chopped walnuts, grated Parmesan and shredded chicken. Cook until it has a thick creamy texture. About 5 minutes before serving, add the evaporated milk and continue cooking in very low heat. If it’s too thick add a bit of milk or the stock to loosen it. Check for salt

6. 6

   Serve over the boiled rice and garnish with halved potatoes, boiled eggs in quarters and olives. This dish is even better the next day!