Main Dishesbillyparisi
Aji De Gallina Recipe
Aji de Gallina is a classic Peruvian dish with tender, slow-cooked chicken and a silky, flavorful sauce that’s worth the effort.
👥 7 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 2h 30m⏳ Prep: 30 min🔥 Cook: 2h👤 Chef Billy Parisi📖 billyparisi
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- pot
- strainer
- bowl
- sauce pot
- pan
- blender
📝 Preparation Steps
1
For the Braised Chicken: In a large pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Once it begins to smoke lightly, add the split chicken breasts, skin-side down, and sear for 3 to ⏱️ 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. If you fabricated your own chicken, I also add the backbone and wings for more flavor.
olive oil2 tablespoons
2
Once browned, set them aside. In the same pot, add in the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, and sauté for 3 to ⏱️ 4 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
3
Pour in the water, season with salt and pepper. Place in the cooked split chicken and any other seared chicken parts you may have, along with the parsley, bay leaf, and oregano. Simmer over low to medium heat for ⏱️ 70 minutes.
bay leaf1dry oregano2 teaspoons
4
Once it’s done, remove the chicken and set it aside on a plate. Strain the stock through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer. You will have leftover stock after making this recipe, which you can use in other recipes or freeze.
5
For the Sauce: Add the bread to a bowl and cover in 3 to 3 ½ cups of the chicken stock. It will soak up all of it. Set this to the side.
6
In the meantime, toast the cumin seeds in a large sauce pot over low heat for 2 to ⏱️ 3 minutes. They will become very aromatic. Remove them and grind them using a mortar and pestle or a grinder.
cumin seeds (or ground)1 teaspoon
7
In the same pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, then add the onions. Gently season with salt, then sauté for ⏱️ 5 minutes, or until they start to turn lightly brown. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 8 to ⏱️ 10 minutes while stirring occasionally.
olive oil2 tablespoons
8
With ⏱️ 5 minutes left in the onion cooking process, add in the peppers, gently season with salt, and cook for ⏱️ 5 minutes. You just want the edges of the peppers to start to turn light brown.
9
Stir in the garlic and pecans and cook for 1 to ⏱️ 2 minutes to gently toast.
10
Stir in the cumin, the aji panca, and 3 cups of the chicken stock. Gently season with salt and cook down over low to medium heat to further concentrate the flavors, for about 8 to ⏱️ 10 minutes.
aji panca2 teaspoons
11
Add in the soaked bread and mix to combine.
12
Transfer the mixture to a blender without the center cap. Blend on high speed until it is completely smooth. If it is too thick, add some more chicken stock. It should be like a thick cream sauce.
13
Add the sauce back to the pan and finish with the evaporated milk, parmigiano, butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Keep warm over low heat.
evaporated milk12 ounces
14
While the sauce stays warm, remove all the meat from the braised chicken breasts, discarding the skin and bones, and shred it by hand.
15
Add the chicken to the sauce and mix to coat. You can squeeze in 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice to brighten it up, if you'd like.
16
Serve with garlic rice, sliced boiled potatoes, quartered hard-boiled eggs, and olives.
garlic rice (optional)
Nutrition Facts
calories
526 kcal
fat Content
28 g
serving Size
1 serving
fiber Content
6 g
sugar Content
23 g
sodium Content
800 mg
protein Content
28 g
trans Fat Content
0.2 g
cholesterol Content
79 mg
carbohydrate Content
43 g
saturated Fat Content
9 g
unsaturated Fat Content
16 g
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