Coconut- And Ají Amarillo–Chicken

When i was making all the recipes from the Pastabilities book i ended up with a set of Aji flavors that i didn’t use. Part of my goal this year was to use up alot of things from the pantry that were just getting old or might never be used…

I searched the interwebs and found this ditty Generally we don’t do skin on, hubby doesn’t like meat on bone, and he doesn’t like dark meat unless we sneak it in! Also we generally pre-prep the chicken after we get home from costco – pounded thin, chunks, and strips!

I diverged from the main recipe with the chicken, and then hubby also is not a fan of squash… So why did you bother with the recipe you ask – i could do pieces for me and the rest for us both!

Coconut- And Ají Amarillo–Chicken

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Cuisine: peruvian

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons 30 ml coconut oil or any neutral-flavored oil
• 1 skinless boneless chicken breast cut into chunks
• Kosher salt to taste
• 4 medium cloves garlic minced
• 1 13.6-ounce; 400 ml can coconut milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup 60 to 120 ml ají amarillo paste (see notes)
• 1 bag of frozen butternut squash chunks
• 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
• Cooked rice or boiled yuca for serving

Equipment

• dutch oven

Method

 

1. Add coconut oil to a 6-quart Dutch oven or similar heavy-bottomed, oven-safe pot and heat over medium-high heat until oil shimmers. Season chicken chunks with salt and sear until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip chicken and sear on other side until browned, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
2. Add additional coconut oil to the dutch oven and sear the frozen butternut squach, remove from the pan and save for your veggies lovers
3. Add minced garlic to pot and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the chicken, until translucent and tender, about 2-5 minutes.
4. Increase heat to medium, then add coconut milk, ají amarillo and bring to a simmer.
5. Season with salt.
6. Return chicken to pot along with any accumulated juices
7. Stir in peas
8. Serve right away with wilker fried rice or boiled yuca.

Main changes:

Chicken chunks – reduces cooking time

Butternut squash as a base vs in the mixture

Skipped the onion – hubby prefers macerated, i didn’t have any ready

Verdict:

Definitely take care with how much aji amarillo you use, it has a kick!!

We went with 1/4 cup and that was plenty!

Great recipe, very tasty, and beautiful left overs!