TINGA EMPANADAS

Patricia Quintana
2009

 

INGREDIENTS (serves 4):

Chicken:

75 ml. water

100 gr. onion, in quarters

15 gr. cloves garlic, peeled

4 fresh bay leaves

250 gr. chicken breast with the bone, trimmed

20 gr. salt

 

Tinga sauce:

40 ml. olive oil

5 gr. clove garlic, peeled, whole

10 gr. clove garlic, peeled, finely chopped

150 gr. onion cut diagonally

50 gr. chorizo, finely chopped

4 gr. dried chipotle chilis

15 gr. pickled chipotle chilis, in strips

1 fresh bay leaf

1 clove

3 gr. stick of cinnamon

65 gr. muscovado sugar

2 gr. freshly-ground black pepper

30-40 ml. apple vinegar

250 gr. tomato, in small dice

30 gr. salt

Chicken in strands

Dough:

200 gr. maize dough

Water (for sprinkling)

20 gr. butter

5 gr. raising agent

1 gr. sodium bicarbonate

100 ml. olive oil

500 ml. sunflower oil (for frying)

1 pinch salt, or to taste                      

Garnish:

200 gr. guacamole per person (see recipe for "Quayside nibbles")

10 gr. fresh cheese, cut in triangles

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 slices meco chili, fried

4 bases of corn leaves, dried

Powdered chili, to taste

4 gr. sea salt

PREPARATION:

 

Chicken: Boil the water with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, chicken and salt. Simmer, covered, for 25 min. Leave to cool. Break up the chicken breast into strands.

 

Tinga sauce:  Lightly brown the whole garlic cloves in oil then remove. Place the chopped garlic and onion in the same oil and caramelise. Season with salt. Add the other ingredients, except for the tomato and chicken. Season again. Cook until all the fat has been released, add the tomato and leave to thicken. Add the chicken strands, and cook for 15 min. Check the seasoning. 

 

Dough: Place the dough in a container and sprinkle with a little water. Add butter, raising agent, bicarbonate and salt. Knead to form a soft, shiny dough. Form balls about 10 gr. each. Place each of the balls between two sheets of plastic and press lightly to form tortillas 5 cm in diameter. Remove the plastic sheets and fill each empanada with 15 gr. tinga sauce. Fold in half and seal the edges. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the empanadas until golden. Place on absorbent paper.

 

 

 

TO SERVE:

 

Place about 40 gr. guacamole on a soup dish and arrange 3 empanadas on top, overlapping. Decorate with a small bundle of thyme, the cheese sprinkled with chili powder, the fried meco chili and the knot of dried maize leaves. Finish with 1 gr. sea salt.