Ají de Gallina

Storing and Planning Ahead

Refrigerate up to 3 days and freeze 2 months. Reheat gently with a splash of milk or stock.

Making Ají de Gallina

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1. Poach the chicken in the water with the onion, garlic, bay and salt for 20 minutes. Lift out, cool, and shred by hand. Reserve 400 ml of the stock.

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2. Tear the bread into a bowl and pour over the evaporated milk. Leave 15 minutes, then blend with the walnuts until completely smooth.

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3. Heat the oil in a wide pan and fry the chopped onions for 12 minutes until soft and golden.

   Mark done Start 12 min timer

4. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the ají amarillo paste and turmeric, and fry 4 minutes until the oil turns deep orange and the paste darkens.

   Mark done Start 1 min timer

5. Add the reserved stock and bring to a simmer.

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6. Stir in the bread and walnut purée and cook 8 minutes, stirring, until it thickens noticeably.

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7. Add the shredded chicken and the Parmesan and simmer 5 minutes more.

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8. Season with the salt and adjust the consistency with more stock — it should be thick but pourable.

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9. Lay the potato slices on plates, spoon the ají de gallina over, and serve with rice, olives, quartered egg and parsley.

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Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Choosing rice.

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Tips for Success

• Ají amarillo paste is essential and widely sold frozen or jarred. There is no close substitute.
• Fry the paste properly before adding liquid — four minutes, until the oil colours.
• Shred the chicken by hand rather than chopping it; the texture matters.

Why the Method Is What It Is

Bread soaked in evaporated milk is the traditional thickener, and it gives a body that flour cannot: the starch and the milk emulsify into something smooth and rich without any floury taste. Frying the ají amarillo paste in oil before liquid goes in blooms its colour and takes the raw edge off.

What to Put Next to It

Steamed white rice and boiled potato, both traditional · A cold Inca Kola or a crisp white · Black olives

Swaps and Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Quick Answers

Ají de Gallina Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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