Recipe: Peruvian spiced chicken

I would love to say this is a recipe for pollo a la brasa but that would be a terrible lie. First, I did not use charcoal to cook it and second, traditional pollo a la brasa can be made with no other seasoning than salt and pepper. That’s why I’m calling it Peruvian spiced chicken instead.

A couple of notes about ingredients:

1. Peruvian dark beer (a.k.a. “malta”) is a bit sweeter than most dark beers here in Australia. I used O’Brien brown ale, which is not only delicious and gluten-free but also similar in taste to Peruvian malta. Feel free to use any dark beer you like.
2. Ají panca is a dried red Peruvian chilli. In Perú you can buy it whole, ground or in paste. In Australia is more common to find the paste, which can be purchased online or in stores such as Fiji Market in Newtown and Tierras Latinas in Ashfield. I like the brand I bring from home every time I visit, which unfortunately is not available here (pictured below). If you can’t find it (or can’t be bothered), use any chilli paste you like… but don’t call it Peruvian chicken ;).

Finally, Peruvians would typically serve this chicken with chips and “salad” (maybe some iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato). I recommend serving it with your favourite vegetables or a nice salad, for example, this one.

Peruvian spiced chicken

This Peruvian spiced chicken is a decent homemade substitute for traditional Peruvian pollo a la brasa.

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Peruvian

Servings 4

Equipment

• oven

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole chicken
• 1/4 cup dark beer O’Brien gluten-free dark ale recommended
• 2 tbsp ají panca paste or other red chilli paste
• 2 tbsp tamari or other gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 1/5 tsp rosemary salt or 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

 

• Mix all marinade ingredients and spread on and in chicken. Let marinate in the fridge for 3-12 hours.
• Take chicken out of the fridge and preheat oven to 215°C (185-195°C fan-forced).
• Place chicken in cast iron pot or roasting pan and roast for 70-90 minutes. Time will vary depending on the actual temperature of your oven and size of the chicken. Use a brush to baste chicken with the cooking juices approximately at the 45-50 minute mark
• Turn off oven and leave chicken inside for another 5-10 minutes.
• Serve with vegetables.

Keyword chicken, dairy free, gluten free, Peruvian cuisine, Peruvian food, whole chicken

Want more Peruvian recipes? Check out the e-cookbook below!

Peruvian recipes from abroad

This e-book contains my favourite Peruvian recipes developed from the point of view of an expat who learned to find her way with the ingredients that were available in her new home.

$9.95

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