Typical platting of the dish.

This is one of my favorite Peruvian dishes. It isn’t very difficult to make and it packs a lot of flavor. The following is my version of the recipe, and as with most of my versions, ingredients are measured by taste. However, I will give you a general measurement to start with.

Ingredients:

1 whole large chicken
Yellow South American chilis (at least 3 or 4, see considerations below)
Parmesan cheese (start with a 2 cups)
1 diced medium yellow onion
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 to 3/4 loaf of bread
Milk (read considerations below)
4 boiled eggs
6 potatoes
2 cups of Jasmine rice
Have handy: oil, salt and pepper.

Considerations:

• The potatoes and boiled eggs are more of a side dish with this recipe. So knowing when to cook the potatoes and rice is key, the boiled eggs can be prepped beforehand and do not need to be warm at the time of serving.
• The Yellow South American chilis should be fresh if you can find them. If not, you can get them whole in the jar or sometimes you can find the paste. I prefer them fresh, but if I can’t get them fresh I opt for the whole ones in a jar (see photo below). I love my dish spicy, so I use up to 4 or 5.

Instructions:

What follows is the order in which I cook and prepare things to make sure everything is ready and served at once.

1. Boil 4 eggs. Make sure they are fully cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool in fridge for easy peeling.

2. Boil the whole chicken in enough water that it covers the entire bird with about 1inch above the bird. Cook the bird until tender, this usually takes about an hour. When finished, pull the chicken out of the broth and let cool. Reserve broth, this will be used later in the dish. (You might want to strain the broth to remove any floating fat and skin.)

3. Take a half of loaf of bread and place in a deep dish. If you peel off the crust, use 3/4 of the loaf of bread. The milk should wet the bread enough that it is soggy. Add about a cup of the chicken broth to the soggy bread as well. Some liquid will be surrounding the bread.

4. Clean the potatoes but leave the skin on, and cut in half. Yukon golden potatoes work best for this dish, but you can use whatever kind of potatoes you like. Once clean and cut in half, put in a pot and pour some of the chicken broth over the potatoes. (Make sure you reserve some of the broth for later use.) If you do not have enough broth to cover the potatoes, add some water. Remember, make sure you have about 1 1/2 cups of broth left over after the potatoes, for later use. Add in butter (Irish cream butter rocks), salt and pepper. Note: I like to add fresh Rosemary to my potatoes as they cook.

5. At this time, make the Jasmine rice in a separate pot. Cook it as the instructions say on the package. Note: I add a bit of diced garlic and olive oil to my rice.

6. Strip the chicken taking care to remove skin, veins and other less desirable parts. The meat should be shredded much the same way you’d find pork shredded in pulled pork.

7. Take the bread/milk/broth mixture and place it in a blender. Blend until its a creamy thick mixture. If the mixture is too thick (gummy), add a bit of chicken broth and continue blending until the mixture is a bit more smooth. The ideal creamy texture should be that of a country gravy.

8. If the yellow chilis are whole, either fresh or in a jar, blend them in a blender as well until they become a paste. You might need to add a bit of olive oil if they are fresh to make it easier to get out of the blender. Below is a photo of what the jar/paste version of the peppers looks like. You should be able to find a variety of brands at a local Spanish market or, in a special area of your super market. Fresh is always best, though.

9. In a large pot, heat some olive oil and saute the onions and garlic, until the onion becomes slightly translucent.

10. Add stripped chicken and the yellow chili peppers and make sure everything is well mixed. Turn down heat to medium.

11. Add the bread/milk mixture to the chicken. Cook slowly for about 10 minutes. During this time, add broth if needed to keep the sauce from getting too thick. In general, the sauce should be the same smooth, but thickness of a hearty spaghetti sauce.

NOTE: It is important to pay attention to the sauce. The finished sauce should look as thick but creamy in the recipe photo at the top of this page. I like mine a bit more creamy, as if I am pouring a gravy with chicken in it.

12. Add Parmesan cheese to the chicken sauce. I am not shy about using the cheese. I generally start off with about a cup, and then continue to add more to taste. At the same time, I salt and pepper to taste.

Plating:

You can plate this however you want. The recipe photo shows a pretty fancy way of plating Ají de gallina. But below is an easy way of serving.

1. Place a serving amount of the cooked Jasmine rice in the middle of the plate.
2. Put two potato halves on top of the rice.
3. Peel, and cut in half the boiled eggs. Place two halves of the boiled eggs on the rice, next to the potatoes.
4. Pour a generous helping of the Chicken chili sauce over the potatoes, eggs and rice.

(Optional): You can sprinkle a bit of saffron, more cheese or black olives on top of the final dish if you’d like.