Vori Vori de Gallina

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg chicken pieces, bone in
• 2 litres water
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 red pepper
• 3 spring onions
• 1 carrot
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground coriander seed
• 2 tsp salt
• Black pepper
• 250 g fine cornmeal
• 60 g cassava starch
• 200 g queso Paraguay or firm salty fresh cheese
• 1 egg
• 150 ml hot broth, for the dumplings
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano

Before you cook

• Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper
• Finely chop the onion, red pepper, carrot and garlic
• Slice the spring onions thinly
• Grate the cheese

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
2. Brown the chicken pieces for 8 minutes, turning them, until the skin has colour.
3. Lift the chicken out and lower the heat to medium.
4. Add the onion, red pepper and carrot and cook for 8 minutes, until soft.
5. Stir in the garlic, the ground coriander and the oregano and cook for 1 minute.
6. Return the chicken, pour in the water and add the bay leaves and the salt.
7. Bring to a simmer and skim the surface, then cook gently for 35 minutes.
8. Lift the chicken onto a board and let it cool enough to handle.
9. Ladle 150 ml of the hot broth into a jug and set it aside for the dumplings.
10. Pull the chicken meat off the bones in large shreds and return it to the pot.
11. Mix the cornmeal, cassava starch and grated cheese in a bowl.
12. Add the egg and work it through, then pour in the reserved hot broth a little at a time.
13. Knead the mixture briefly until it holds like soft modelling clay, adding more broth only if it cracks.
14. Roll the mixture into balls the size of a walnut, about 24 of them.
15. Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer and drop the balls in one by one.
16. Simmer for 12 to 15 minutes without stirring hard, until the dumplings float and are set through.
17. Taste the broth, which should have thickened noticeably, and correct the salt.
18. Scatter the parsley and the spring onion over and serve in deep bowls with four dumplings each.