Peru/Lima – Recipe Aji de Gallina

I met these amazing women, Zenia (one of the women I work with at the organization), Yolanda (her mom) and her sister. Yolanda taught me how to cook Aji de Gallina, one of my favorite Peruvian dishes so far. And I just had to share it with you because it’s way simpler than I expected!

Aji de gallina is a slightly spicy, bright yellow and rich creamy sauce made with chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken
• 3 to 4 yellow aji peppers
• 2 minced cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 2 + 1 tablespoons of oregano
• 1 tablespoon of curcuma
• 3 tablespoons of chopped pecan nuts
• 4 slices white bread
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 yellow potatoes
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• Halved black olives
• Lettuce
• Rice

If you can’t find aji amarillo peppers, substitute it with a hot chile pepper and add a yellow bell pepper for color.

Recipe:

1. Cook the yellow potatoes in salted water until tender when pierced with a fork. Let cool, peel, cut into quarters, and set aside.
2. Place the bread in a small bowl and pour the evaporated milk over it to soak. Set aside.
3. Place the chicken breasts in a pot with 2 tablespoons of oregano, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until chicken, is just barely cooked through.
4. Set chicken aside to cool.
5. Remove stems and seeds from the peppers.
6. Sauté the garlic, onions and peppers until the onions are soft and golden.
7. Add the peppers, ginger, curcuma, oregano and pecan nuts. Remove from heat and let cool.
8. Shred the cooled chicken into bite-size pieces.
9. In a blender or food processor, process the evaporated milk and bread mixture with the cooked onion mixture until smooth.
10. Return onion mixture to pan. Bring to a low simmer and stir in the chicken.
11. Serve over rice, lettuce, garnished with the yellow potatoes, slices of hard-boiled egg, and black olives.

OK, mine isn’t as sexy as I would have wanted it to be but.. it was delicious and that’s the most important!