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Chicken with Tamarind, Apricots and Chipotle Sauce

8 servings
Pollo con Salsa de Tamarindo, Chabacano y Chipotle

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces, plus two more pieces of your choice, with skin and bones
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste
  • 1/2 cup safflower or corn oil
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 pound dried apricots, about 3/4 cup, roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
  • 3/4 cup tamarind concentrate, can be store bought or homemade (recipe follows), or substitute with 2 tablespoons tamarind paste mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar and 3/4water
  • 2 tablespoons Chipotles 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.