{Fritada de gallina} Ecuadorian chicha braised chicken
Fritada de gallina is a delicious and tender Ecuadorian chicken dish prepared by cooking chicken in a sauce made with chicha or fermented corn drink, garlic, onion and cumin until the liquid is gone and the chicken is golden brown.
Adapted from Michelle O. Fried’s Comidas del Ecuador: Recetas Tradicionales para Gente de Hoy
Servings 10
Ingredients
- ~5 lbs chicken assorted pieces
- 2 ½ cups of chicha or 1 cup white wine + 2 cups of orange juice can also use a mix of beer and orange juice + ½ tsp ground cinnamon + pinch of ground cloves
- 1 ½ heads of garlic 1 head peeled and crushed, the other ½ head peeled and whole
- 1 white onion cut in large chunks
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- Salt to taste
Side dish options (choose your favorites):
Instructions
- Mix the crushed garlic (1 head) and cumin with the chicha or wine/orange juice spice mix.
- Marinate the chicken pieces in the liquid marinade mix for at least 1-2 hours, overnight is ideal.
- Put the chicken and the marinade in a wok or a large deep sauté pan, add the whole garlic cloves and the chunks of white onion
- Cook over low medium heat, should be lightly boiling most of the time, for about 1 ½ hours or until the liquid starts to reduce, stir occasionally.
- Continue cooking for another 30 minutes, but keep a close eye on it from this point, stir more frequently.
- Reduce the heat to low until the liquid is gone and a small amount of grease (from the chicken) replaces the liquid. Stir frequently to keep the chicken from burning and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken pieces are browned.
- Serve with fried or baked ripe plantains, llapingachos or potato patties, tomato and red onion curtido salsa, avocado slices and aji or hot sauce. The chicken fritada can also be served with mote or hominy, boiled yuca or rice instead of the potato patties.