Gallo en chicha

Ingredients

Chicha

• 500 gdried white maize
• 3 litreswater
• 250 gpanela or dulce de atado, chopped

Meat

• 1rooster or large chicken, about 2.5 kg, jointed
• salt and pepper

Braise

• 3 tbsplard or oil
• 2onions, sliced
• 1green pepper, sliced
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 250 gpanela, chopped
• 150 gprunes, pitted
• 100 graisins
• 3 tbspcapers, rinsed
• 100 ggreen olives
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspground cloves
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 1 tbspWorcestershire sauce

To serve

• white rice
• warm tortillas

Directions

1. Put the dried maize in a large clean jar or crock. Pour over the three litres of water and stir in the chopped panela. Cover the jar with a cloth rather than a lid, so gas can escape. Leave it at room temperature for three days, stirring it once a day. It will begin to bubble and smell sour and yeasty within about two days.
2. Use a clean jar and clean hands, since this is a wild ferment. If it smells putrid rather than sour and yeasty, discard it and start again. Strain the liquid off the maize and keep the liquid, which is the chicha. You should have about two and a half litres after straining.
3. Joint the rooster into eight pieces, or ask a butcher to do it. Season the pieces well with salt and pepper on all sides. Heat the lard in a heavy casserole large enough to hold everything.
4. Brown the pieces in batches over a medium-high heat, skin side first. Give each piece four or five minutes a side and do not crowd the pan. Lift the browned pieces out onto a plate and set them aside. Add the sliced onions and green pepper to the pan and cook them for eight minutes.
5. Add the garlic and cook it for another minute until fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them down for five minutes. Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, thyme and bay leaves.
6. Return the rooster pieces to the pan along with any juices on the plate. Pour in enough chicha to come three quarters of the way up the meat. Add the panela, the Worcestershire sauce and a good pinch of salt. Bring it up to a bare simmer and never let it boil hard.
7. Cover the pan and cook it for about two hours for a rooster. A regular chicken will be tender in about an hour and a quarter. Turn the pieces once at the halfway point so they cook evenly. Add the prunes, raisins, capers and olives after two hours. Cook them for a further twenty minutes, uncovered. Now the sauce, which needs reducing at the end. Lift the meat out onto a warm dish and cover it.
8. Boil the remaining liquid hard for about ten minutes to concentrate it. It should thicken to the consistency of thin gravy and darken further. Taste it and balance the sweetness with salt, since panela can dominate. Return the meat to the sauce and warm it through gently.
9. Serve it with white rice and warm tortillas to catch the sauce. Note that the dish keeps a little alcohol from the chicha even after long cooking.

Technique

• Start the chicha three days ahead, since the ferment cannot be rushed.
• Discard the ferment if it smells putrid rather than sour and yeasty.
• Simmer gently for two hours; a hard boil toughens an older bird.

Substitutions

• A large chicken in place of a rooster, cooked about forty-five minutes less.
• Dark brown sugar in place of panela, though the flavour is flatter.

Variations

• With more panela, for the very sweet version some families prefer.
• Gallo en chicha made with pork ribs instead of rooster.
• With the chicha fermented five days, for a stronger sour edge.

History

Rooster braised in fermented maize chicha with panela and spices, a fiesta dish of the highlands.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gallo en chicha?

Gallo en chicha is a main from El Salvador: rooster braised in fermented corn drink with panela. Rooster braised in fermented maize chicha with panela and spices, a fiesta dish of the highlands.

How long does Gallo en chicha take to make?

Gallo en chicha takes 30 min plus 3 days for the chicha of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Gallo en chicha?

Yes, within limits. A large chicken in place of a rooster, cooked about forty-five minutes less. Dark brown sugar in place of panela, though the flavour is flatter.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gallo en chicha?

Put the dried maize in a large clean jar or crock. Pour over the three litres of water and stir in the chopped panela. Cover the jar with a cloth rather than a lid, so gas can escape. Leave it at room temperature for three days, stirring it once a day. It will begin to bubble and smell sour and yeasty within about two days.