Chicken Cafreal
Servings: 4
Total Time: 45 minutes cook time, 4 hours marinating time
Ingredients
4 chicken leg quarters
salt & pepper
6 serrano peppers, stems removed
1 bunch fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
10 medium garlic cloves, peeled
2-inch piece of ginger
5 whole cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
4 TBSP cooking oil
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP unsalted butter
Directions
1. Generously season the chicken all over with salt and pepper, place chicken in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Add the serrano peppers, cilantro, garlic, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, and lime juice to a blender and blend to form a marinade paste. Rub the paste all over the chicken pieces. Cover the chicken and refrigerate for 4 hours.
3. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add the chicken pieces and fry the chicken until they have dark brown or blackened spots, about 5 minutes per side. *Don't overcrowd the pan or you'll steam the chicken instead of frying it, cook your chicken in batches if they look crowded and then return all the chicken back into the pan when it's all browned.
4. Carefully add the water, butter, and any leftover marinade from the bowl into the pan. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes. Flip the chicken over, put the lid back on the pan and cook 10 more minutes or until cooked through adding a little more water if it seems to dried out.
5. Serve the chicken discarding any leftover liquid from the pan.
2. Add the serrano peppers, cilantro, garlic, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, and lime juice to a blender and blend to form a marinade paste. Rub the paste all over the chicken pieces. Cover the chicken and refrigerate for 4 hours.
3. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add the chicken pieces and fry the chicken until they have dark brown or blackened spots, about 5 minutes per side. *Don't overcrowd the pan or you'll steam the chicken instead of frying it, cook your chicken in batches if they look crowded and then return all the chicken back into the pan when it's all browned.
4. Carefully add the water, butter, and any leftover marinade from the bowl into the pan. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes. Flip the chicken over, put the lid back on the pan and cook 10 more minutes or until cooked through adding a little more water if it seems to dried out.
5. Serve the chicken discarding any leftover liquid from the pan.
Notes & Tips
Traditionally Chicken Cafreal is accompanied by potato wedges and lime wedges. I served mine with basmati rice and lime wedges which was very good too.