Pollo Sudado – Colombian Chicken Stew

Pollo sudado is a popular chicken stew in Colombia. First you fry some vegetables, mainly onions and tomatoes, and to this mixture you add raw chicken and raw potatoes. You cover this with a lid and steam this with the water slowly. “Sudado” literally translates as “sweated”, the idea is that the chicken is steamed in the liquid of the vegetables. This may sound a bit strange, I agree. I was suspicious, I mean raw chicken is not something anyone wants. However, since it is one of the favorite dishes of my husband, I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised. It does get a different kind of flavor from this vegetable steam. The best thing? It tastes even better on day 2 or 3!

My hubby, a Colombian, believes that this dish will not be served in any restaurant in Colombia. It is too simple, this is something he would come home to, his mom would quickly whip this up on a weekday, this is a Colombian staple. Often it is served with even more sides. Typical are yuca roots or green plantains, which are both fried and are treated like potatoes. Rice is always served, I also made some as you can see in the pictures, but obviously you can just serve it with the potatoes. Normally Colombians like to season with cilantro. If you don’t like the flavor, you can use parsely.

Credit: Slightly adapted from the Instagram of Los de Ñam (in Spanish)

Print Recipe

Pollo Sudado - Colombian Chicken Stew

Serves: About 4 portions

Prep Time: 30min – Cooking Time: 30min – Total Time: 1hr

Pollo Sudado - Colombian chicken stew contains a vegetable broth, which is the basis for steaming the raw chicken and potatoes in.

Ingredients

• 1 big white onion
• A lot of olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper
• 3 spring onions
• 3 medium-sized tomatoes
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 200 grams of vegetable or chicken broth
• Salt, pepper, cumin, and "color" powder from the achiote tree (can be ordered online)
• About 6-8 medium-sized potatoes
• 4 chicken legs
• Optional: fresh cilantro, avocado, cooked rice

Instructions

1

Peel and cube the onion, then simmer for a few minutes in a large frying pan with lots of olive oil. Meanwhile wash and cut the bell pepper and the spring onions, add to the onion and stir. Then wash and cube the tomatoes and finely cut the peeled garlic cloves. Add to the mix, stir again and let all of this simmer for a few minutes. Add the broth and seasoning.

2

Peel the potatoes and cut in halves or quarters, depending on size. First layer the chicken legs on top of the vegetables, then add the cut potatoes. Be sure to cover everything with a lid (super important) and let cook on medium to low heat for about 25-30 minutes. Stir occasionnally in between.

3

Serve with some additional chopped spring onions, fresh cilantro, avocado and/or cooked rice. This dish will keep for 2-3 days, but be sure to keep chilled and warm up in frying pan or microwave.