Arroz de Cabidela

Ingredients

• 1 free-range chicken (about 1.6 kg), jointed into 10 pieces
• 200 ml fresh chicken or pig's blood, from a butcher
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 100 ml red wine
• 2 onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 100 g smoked presunto or bacon
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 60 ml olive oil
• 350 g carolino or other short-grain rice
• 1.2 litres hot chicken stock
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Before you cook

• Stir the vinegar and red wine into the blood the moment you get it home so it cannot clot, then keep it covered in the fridge.
• Joint the chicken into ten pieces and season them all over with salt and pepper.
• Chop the onions and garlic finely and dice the presunto.
• Grate the tomatoes on a box grater and discard the skins.

Steps

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat.
2. Brown the chicken pieces in two batches, about four minutes a side, then lift them onto a plate.
3. Lower the heat and add the diced presunto, cooking it for three minutes until its fat runs.
4. Add the onions and garlic and cook them for eight minutes, until soft and golden.
5. Stir in the bay leaves, paprika and grated tomato, and cook for four minutes until the mixture is thick and darkened.
6. Return the chicken and any juices from the plate to the pot.
7. Pour in the hot stock and bring it to a simmer.
8. Cover the pot and cook gently for thirty minutes, until the chicken is tender at the bone.
9. Taste the broth and season it firmly; it should taste a little stronger than you want the finished dish to be.
10. Stir in the rice and bring the pot back to a simmer.
11. Cook uncovered for twelve minutes, stirring now and then, until the rice is almost done and the pot is still very wet.
12. Take the pot off the heat and wait until the bubbling has stopped completely.
13. Pour the blood and vinegar mixture through a sieve into the pot, stirring steadily as it goes in.
14. Set the pot back on the lowest possible heat and stir for three to four minutes, until the sauce turns dark chocolate brown and thickens slightly.
15. Keep it well below a boil at this stage, or the blood will split into grains instead of smoothing into sauce.
16. Taste and add a little more vinegar if the dish tastes flat or heavy.
17. Scatter over the parsley and serve straight from the pot, loose and soupy.