Chicken with Tamarind, Apricots and Chipotle Sauce
8servings
Pollo con Salsa de Tamarindo, Chabacano y Chipotle
Ingredients
1wholechicken, cut into pieces, plus two more pieces of your choice, with skin and bones
1teaspoonkosher or sea salt, or more to taste
1/2teaspoonblack pepper, freshly ground, or to taste
1/2cupsafflower or corn oil
4cupswater
1/2pounddried apricots, about 3/4 cup, roughly chopped
2tablespoonsapricot preserves
3/4cuptamarind concentrate, can be store bought or homemade (recipe follows), or substitute with 2 tablespoons tamarind paste mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar and 3/4water
2tablespoonsChipotles in adobo sauce, or more to taste, add chiles if you please
To Prepare
Thoroughly rinse chicken pieces with cold water and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
In a deep extended skillet, heat oil over medium heat until it is hot but not smoking. Add chicken pieces in one layer, bring heat to medium-low, and slowly brown the chicken pieces for one hour. Turn them over every once in a while, so they will brown evenly on all sides.
Pour water over the chicken, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring it to a simmer. Incorporate the apricots, apricot preserve, tamarind concentrate, chipotle sauce and salt and stir, and keep it at a medium simmer for 35 to 40 minutes more. You may need to bring down the heat to medium.
The sauce should have thickened considerably as to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Taste for salt and heat and add more salt or chipotle sauce to your liking.