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Summer Distro

The summer distro recipe costs ~$75 for a 9-gallon yield of fresh-vegetable-rich chicken balela. To make dividing labor easier, the recipe is broken into "building blocks", parts of the total recipe that can be considered and prepared independently. Assemble the building blocks thus:

  1. shop for the ingredients
  2. prep the garlic/ginger
  3. mix the spices
  4. pickle the cabbage
  5. prep then cook the beans
  6. assemble salsa verde
  7. process the fresh vegetables
  8. prep then cook the balela base

shop for the ingredients

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)shopping guidance
chickpeas2500
cannellini1000
garlic320
ginger180
cabbage2000 2 large or 3 medium green cabbages
jalapeño peppers, blistered800 3 aldi bags, ~2 loose quarts
lemon juice1 qt~16 lemons
scallions800 6 bags
cilantro400 9 bunches
coconut milk2900 1 large (#10) can or 7 standard cans
potatoes3000 ~10 big idaho potatoes
cauliflower4000 4-5 head
chicken8500 4 aldi packs
canned whole peeled tomato2900 1 #10 cans or 7 standard cans
yellow onions1200 ~8 yellow onions
peppers (bell/sweet, sliced)900 9 bell peppers (green/mixed) and 3 bags mini sweet peppers
frozen peas1360 4 aldi bags
cucumber1800 ~6 pieces
spice mix1 qt
garlic/ginger500

garlic-ginger

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
garlic320
ginger180
olive oil0.25 c
  1. peel ginger with a spoon or veg. peeler
  2. rough chop ginger to the size of garlic cloves
  3. pulse mixed garlic and ginger in batches in blender, adding just enough oil for the blender to catch
  4. portion into pints

notes

  • if you have time, prepare a 5x or 10x batch, portion it out into pint containers, and freeze them. Each pint is enough for one week's garlic/ginger requirement.

spice mix

whole spice

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
cumin seeds100
coriander seeds100
fennel seed50
cloves3
caraway seeds23

ground spice

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
tumeric165
cayenne25
paprika20
cinnamon15

method 1 (small batch)

  1. toast whole spices together in a pan until aromatic, ~4 minutes
  2. grind whole spices in blender/spice grinder
  3. combine all spices
  4. portion into quart containers

method 2 (huge batch, ~5 gallon yield approach)

  1. preheat oven to 350°
  2. toast whole spices in hotel pans for 5-10 minutes, until fragrant
  3. grind whole spices in batches
  4. using a >10 gallon pot as a mixing vessel, thoroughly blend spices with a combination of whisking and folding/chopping with a pastry knife. Ensure there are no pockets of unmixed spices along the bottom.
  5. transfer spice mix to 5 gallon bucket with a rubber seal. Never allow moisture into the bucket.

notes

  • ideally, scale this recipe up 50X or so and prepare enough spice mix for a year--it will save a lot of money to buy spices in bulk quantity, they will be fresher, and it will save a huge amount of time. When shopping for scaled-up spice mix, it may help to use an online recipe scaler. You can paste the above ingredient table into the scaler and specify a 50X factor, and then compare cheap online prices. Amazon has been the cheapest one-stop solution so far.

pickled cabbage

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
cabbage2000
salt40
garlic/ginger40
spice mix60
rice vinegar1 qt
sugar0.33 qt
water0.66 qt
  1. cut cabbages to quarters through core
  2. remove core
  3. cut to ~1" pieces
  4. using hands, vigorously break up clumps and layers of cabbage
  5. dissolve sugar and salt into vinegar/water solution
  6. stir garlic/ginger and spice mix into solution
  7. combine everything in a cambro and refrigerate 24+ hrs

notes

  • Do reuse the brine, but know that it will lose flavor potency. Using your judgement, recharge the flavor of the brine from time to time (about monthly) by replenishing the vinegar, garlic/ginger, spice, and salt/sugar to taste.
  • The brine should just cover the cabbage. If you need more brine, follow a 3:2:1 ratio of vinegar:water:sugar (measuring volumetrically) to extend the volume of brine liquid. Scale up your spice, salt/sugar, and garlic-ginger to keep the flavor concentration of the brine about the same.
  • for the curious: the salt, garlic/ginger, and spice mix amounts should be 2%, 2%, and 3% of the mass of the cabbage

beans

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
chickpeas2500
cannellini1000
yellow onion, halved1 pc
garlic1 head
bay leaf4 leaf
  1. keep cannellini beans separate from chickpeas until cooling
  2. soak beans overnight, water should come up twice the height of the beans
  3. next day, put beans in deep hotel pans
  4. cut lemon, onion, and head of garlic in half along equator
  5. cover beans with 1" water
  6. put half of lemons/onion/garlic in each pan
  7. arrange pans on stove, cover with upside-down pans, simmer ~30 minutes skimming foam until barely tender (they will require different amounts of time)
  8. when each pan is barely tender, salt liberally, simmer 5 minutes more, then cut heat
  9. use perforated pan to drain beans and shock them with cool water

notes

  • for fastest cooling, put drained beans in a clean food-grade bucket, take them to the back yard, and rinse them three or four times with cold hose-water. You can use the perforated pan to prevent losing beans while you pour off water between rinses.
  • beans can be cooked ahead and chilled; for the summer recipe, this helps bring down the combined balela temperature before putting it in the fridge

salsa verde

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
jalapeño peppers, blistered800
lemon juice1 qt
scallions800
cilantro400
  1. char jalapeno peppers on stove using the scorched colander
  2. rough chop cilantro and scallions
  3. juice lemons
  4. process everything in vitamix
  5. portion into quart containers

notes

  • if you can, juice the lemons in bulk, portion them into pints (1/2 quart tubs), and then freeze the juice as soon as possible to keep the fresh taste

veggies

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
peppers (bell/sweet, sliced)900
frozen peas1360
cucumber1800
  1. cut sweet peppers, bell peppers, and cucumbers to small bite-sized pieces
  2. fine chop red onions
  3. collect all raw veg in one cambro (if you think you'll forget them later, dump frozen peas into this cambro too; otherwise add them at final mix)
  4. chill in fridge until final mix

balela base

ingredientquantity (g unless specified)
coconut milk2900
potatoes3000
cauliflower4000
chicken8500
canned whole peeled tomato2900
yellow onions1200
spice mix1 qt
garlic/ginger500

prep

  1. the night before, freeze as many plastic bottles/jugs of water as your freezer can hold for faster cooling after the cook
  2. peel then cut potato to 1/2" cubes
  3. cut cauliflower to bite-size florets
  4. slice yellow onions
  5. pop lids of coconut milk can(s) and tomato can(s)
  6. open packs of chicken into one cambro
  7. arrange all ingredients near the stove

cook

  1. heat big pot empty for 5 minutes
  2. add one cup oil to bottom of pan, yellow onions, stir periodically for 5 minutes
  3. add spice mix and garlic/ginger, stir across bottom of pot, let it stick and get fragrant for ~30 sec, then stir and ref-latten, repeat a couple times and at first sign of smoke, deglaze coconut milk to a slurry
  4. add rest of coconut milk, canned whole tomatoes, stir, then add chicken
  5. simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is done
  6. remove chicken and set aside to cool (use tongs/perforated pan or your preferred method to remove the chicken)
  7. add potatoes, stir, and simmer until biggest pieces barely tender
  8. add cauliflower, simmer 5 more minutes
  9. cut heat, transfer to two or more hotel pans
  10. distribute ice wands across the pans
  11. arrange pans on cooling racks on kitchen table with fan blowing air across them to cool quickly
  12. while base cools, pick chicken meat from bones and rough chop
  13. once cool, combine with fresh chopped veggies, pickled cabbage, cooked & chilled beans, salsa verde and chopped chicken in big potatoes
  14. wash your hand and arm to the elbow, mix balela thoroughly by hand, then split across buckets using a small pot to scoop
  15. refrigerate overnight