Ají de Gallina, Creamy Peruvian Chicken

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g chicken breast
• 1 chicken stock cube + 800 ml water
• 2 brown onions (about 120 g each) + 2 garlic cloves
• 80 g stale country bread (about 2 slices)
• 200 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 40 g walnut halves
• 30 g grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp turmeric + 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 240 g long-grain rice (dry weight)
• 4 eggs
• 40 g black olives (about 12)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Two saucepans
• Sauté pan
• Stick blender or blender
• Colander
• Spatula
• Two forks

📖 Steps

1. Bring the water to a boil with the stock cube. Add the whole chicken breasts, lower the heat and poach for 15 minutes at a gentle simmer, without vigorous boiling, which would toughen the meat, until white all the way through. Remove them and keep the stock.
2. While the chicken poaches, remove the crust from the bread, cut it into pieces and leave it to soak in the milk for 10 minutes, pressing down so it soaks it up well. Finely slice the onions and chop the garlic.
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and cook the rice for the time stated on the packet (about 11 minutes). Lower the eggs into the same water at the same time as the rice, lift them out with a spoon after 10 minutes and cool under cold water. Drain the rice.
4. Leave the chicken to cool for 5 minutes, then shred it into fine strands with two forks. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them into quarters lengthways.
5. Blend the soaked bread and its milk with the walnuts and parmesan until you have a thick, smooth paste with no pieces of nut left. If the blender struggles, add 3 to 4 tbsp of hot stock.
6. Gently fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil in the sauté pan over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent but not coloured.
7. Add the turmeric and paprika and stir for 30 seconds, then add the bread paste and 250 ml of stock. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly with the spatula as the sauce catches easily, until thick and creamy.
8. Stir in the shredded chicken and heat through for 3 minutes. Loosen with a little stock if needed: the sauce should coat the spoon like a béchamel. Taste, add only a little salt (the stock and parmesan are already salty) and season with pepper.
9. Serve the creamy chicken over the rice, topped with the hard-boiled egg quarters and black olives. The dish reheats very well the next day, loosened with a splash of stock or water.