Peruvian chicken recipe: A flavorful twist on dinner tables
When you're bored with regular chicken thighs, try Peruvian-style chicken. It's a relatively simple dish to prepare that will delight your household's taste buds. The juicy, roasted meat with accompaniments is perfect for dinner.
Peruvian-style chicken is often found on menus in South American restaurants, but in Canada, it's quite rare. It's essentially roasted chicken served with a green sauce made from cilantro, jalapeno, mayonnaise, and garlic.
Peruvian-style chicken - dinner recipe
The chicken is marinated in a special spice mix that gives it an intense, aromatic flavour. The marinade usually includes cumin, sweet red paprika, garlic, lemon, and other herbs, but the quantities can be adjusted to your preference.
Traditionally, chicken is roasted on a spit over a wood fire, giving it a characteristic, slightly smoky aroma. However, you don't need to start a fire—just use a regular roasting pan.
My family loves this chicken, and there's not a drop of sauce left in the bowl. It's a delicious alternative to classic roasted meat recipes. Instead of a whole chicken, I use whole thighs. Depending on the size of the meat, I shorten the cooking time.
Ingredients:
- about 1.2 kg chicken,
- 4 cloves of garlic,
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin,
- 1 heaping tablespoon sweet paprika,
- 1 tablespoon oil,
- half a teaspoon of pepper,
- half a teaspoon oregano,
- 1.5 teaspoons salt,
- zest of 1 lemon,
- juice of half a lemon
Green Sauce:
- a small bunch of fresh cilantro,
- 1 jalapeno pepper (or another hot pepper),
- 1 tablespoon oil,
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise,
- 2 cloves of garlic,
- 1 tablespoon lime juice,
- 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Preparation method:
- Place all the chicken spices in a bowl. Add the oil, lemon juice, and zest, and mix thoroughly.
- Rub the marinade thoroughly into the meat. Most of it should go under the skin.
- Place the marinated chicken in the refrigerator for several hours or preferably overnight.
- Transfer the meat to a roasting pan or ovenproof dish the next day and drizzle with a few tablespoons of water.
- Loosely cover with aluminium foil.
- Place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes.
- After this time, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes until the skin is golden brown.
- Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and mix.
Divide the finished chicken into portions and drizzle with the sauce. Serve with fries or boiled potatoes and a salad. Enjoy your meal!
