In Minas Gerais, Brazil, cooks create a seasoning mix called Sal Com Alho by crushing garlic with salt in a mortar. You can enrich it with ground black pepper and add ginger, marjoram or saffron to taste if you wish. Start the recipe ahead of time as the chicken needs a couple of hours to absorb the seasoning.
Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks 1 lb
- Salt 2 tsp
- Garlic 2 fat cloves, peeled
- Marjoram 1 tsp
- Black Peppercorns 1 tsp
- Vegetable Oil for frying
- Onions 2 medium, diced
- Button Mushrooms sliced, 1 cup
- Parsley 15 sprigs
- Chives 15 stems
- Red Finger Chile Pepper 1, finely sliced
- Yellow Bell Pepper 1, finely sliced
- Okra 1 lb
- Parmesan Cheese 200 g, grated
- Cooked Rice 4 cups
- Chicken Broth 1 cup
- Cherry Tomatoes 1 pint
- Butter 2 Tbs
Cook It
- In a mortar, pound the garlic, salt, marjoram and black pepper into a paste. Rub all over the chicken and set aside for two hours.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a deep skillet and fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the diced onions to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until the onions are well browned. Deglaze the pan with a little of the chicken broth.
- Remove the chicken meat from the bones and roughly shred it. Add to the skillet along with the cooked rice and stir to combine. Add the remaining chicken stock, lower the heat and allow to cook until the stock has been absorbed. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pan until it sizzles and swirl the cherry tomatoes in it until they just start to soften. Grill the whole okra in a dry cast iron pan or under the broiler until blackening in Serve the rice garnished with the sliced red chile, yellow bell pepper and s sprinkling of parmesan. Serve the okra and cherry tomatoes on the side.
