Pollo con Salsa de Papaya y Chipotle
Grilled Chicken with Papaya and Chipotle Sauce
This chicken is delicious served right off the parilla (grill). Usually we make it as part of a botanas or assorted appetizer platter, but many evenings we cook outside and serve it with rice and a fresh green salad. You can substitute chile pasilla Oaxaqueño for the chipotles by toasting and soaking them in water to reconstitute them.
Makes:
8 servings as an appetizer
6 servings as a main course
Ingredients
For the marinade:
7 garlic cloves, chopped finely
½ medium white onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chile chipotle en adobo or chiles pasillas Oaxaqueños soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, finely chopped
½ pound tomatoes (1 medium-large round or 4-5 plum), finely chopped
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 sprigs spearmint, chopped roughly
Sea salt to taste
¼ cup olive oil
2 pounds whole chicken breast, boned and skin removed
For the salsa:
1½ tablespoons chiles chipotles or chiles pasillas Oaxaqueños, stemmed
1 cup papaya pulp, (mamey variety is best), chopped finely
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fruit vinegar or apple cider vinegar
7 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons honey
4 sprigs mint leaves only
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
For the marinade:
Place the garlic, onion, chile chipotle en adobo, and tomatoes in a medium bowl. Add the vinegar, lime juice, pepper, spearmint, and sea salt. Add the olive oil, taste, and adjust the salt, pepper or lime juice. Cut the chicken breasts into 2-inch strips for botanas or in ½ for a main course and place them in the marinade. Marinate the chicken for ½ hour or more. You can do this overnight.
For the salsa:
Put all the ingredients and seasonings into a food processor and pulse, leaving the sauce chunky. (You can chop the ingredients by hand if you want more of a relish.) If the flavor is too strong, you can add a bit of crema, or crème fraiche. Season with salt and pepper.
To finish and serve:
Prepare a charcoal fire. When the coals are white, grill the chicken pieces for about 5 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. The meat should remove easily from the grill when cooked.
Serve salsa in a bowl along with the chicken or spoon on top, if serving as a main course. Or serve tortillas to make tacos on the side.
Hint: You can use the leftover marinade to make a fried rice, quinoa or pasta to serve under the chicken. Just fry the marinade until it starts to caramelize. Then, add pre-cooked rice, quinoa, or pasta. Serve the chicken on top and the salsa on top. This recipe can be adapted extremely well for baby lamb chops to grill over applewood chips.
