Aji de Gallina Recipe
by Rosana McPhee
4
1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients

Aji de gallina

  • 600g of chicken breast
  • 600ml of chicken stock
  • 40ml 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
  • 60g of walnuts, or pecans, toasted and roughly ground
  • 50g of Parmesan, grated
  • 170ml of evaporated milk
  • salt
  • pepper

To serve

  • 4 eggs, hard-boiled
  • 60g of olives
  • 4 potatoes, peeled and boiled
  • brown rice, cooked according to preference
Method
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
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
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
Cook slowly for 10 minutes, stirring until slightly thickened
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
Serve over the boiled rice and garnish with halved potatoes, boiled eggs in quarters and olives. This dish is even better the next day!