Chicken in Nutty Cumin Gravy

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes.  Great with fresh homemade tortillas to dip into the gravy! It has the nice nutty smoky flavor of the comino.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon cumin (comino)

2 large gloves garlic

1 tablespoon of oil, preferable the Colavita Garlic Oil Blend

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon

2 cups water

2 tablespoons flour

4 leg and thigh quarters
salt to taste

Tip: Read complete directions first, before cooking.

Directions:

Wash chicken and sprinkle just a bit of salt and pepper. Begin to heat a 10" - 12" non-stick skillet on medium high. Add the oil. Add the chicken leg thigh quarters to the pan, skin side down. Should sizzle a bit. Cover the pan and lower the heat to medium. Brown the chicken, approximately 7 - 10 minutes on each side

As the chicken is browning, in a molcajete (mortar and pestal), grind the peeled garlic gloves, comino (cumin) and black peppercorns. Once ground into a paste, add 1 cup of water and swish it around the molcajete or mortar to remove all the paste and pour in another bowl. Add the chicken bouillon and other cup of water into the bowl and stir.

Garlic Gloves, Black Peppercorns and Comino (Cumin)

Spices in the Molcajete

Spices and garlic ground to a paste.

Once the second batch of  chicken browns, remove from the pan. Place pan back on stove on medium high heat. Into the drippings of the pan stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir with a wire whisk until the flour has thickened a bit and turns a very light brown, stir constantly. Once browned, slowly pour in the bowl of water with the spices and chicken bouillon. It will be begin to thicken, continue to stir until you get a smooth gravy.

Flour browning.

Smooth Gravy

Last 15 minutes of cooking with chicken and gravy in pan.

Place the chicken back in the pan, lower the heat and simmer on low for another 15 minutes.  Taste and add additional salt to taste if needed.  Enjoy!

Servings: 4

Tip: A molcajete (Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mulcazitl) is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle tool.