Ají de Gallina

Name: Ají de Gallina
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Peruvian Cuisine
Ingredients: 700 g boneless chicken breast or thighs; 1 carrot and 1 small onion (for the poaching liquid); 4 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed; 240 ml evaporated milk (1 cup; or simmer 360 ml milk down to 240 ml); 3 tbsp ají amarillo paste (or 2 yellow bell peppers and 2 hot green chilies, boiled, peeled and puréed); 1 large onion, finely chopped; 3 cloves garlic, crushed; 1/2 cup walnuts, finely ground (pecans are also traditional); 1/3 cup grated Parmesan; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1/4 tsp ground turmeric (for color, optional); 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper; 2 hard-boiled eggs and a few black olives (to serve); 4 small potatoes, boiled, plus white rice (to serve)

A beloved Peruvian home dish of shredded chicken in a creamy sauce of yellow chili, milk-soaked bread, walnuts and cheese.

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Prep: 20 min
Cook: 50 min
Total: 1 h 10 min
Serves: 4
Level: Medium

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The story of this dish

Ají de gallina is usually traced back to the colonial period and to Spanish dishes such as manjar blanco, a sweet-savory blend of chicken and milk. Over time Peruvian cooks added ají amarillo, bread and nuts, and the dish became the creamy, gently spicy stew known today, though the details of that evolution are not certain.

The "gallina" in the name means a hen rather than a young chicken: it was once made with an old laying hen, poached for a long time until tender. Today most cooks use chicken breast, and it remains one of Peru's best-loved home dishes.

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Ají de Gallina

Ingredients

Method

The story of this dish

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