Offaly Good Gizzards
>> Wednesday, 26 April 2017
With a chicken having only one gizzard, and my sister and I equally loving this bit of offal, mommy would cut the gizzard in half so that we can each have a piece each time she cooked chicken. It did not matter whether the gizzard was cooked in a stew, curry or baked, we each got our half of the chicken gizzard.
As a young adult I learnt of chicken gizzards and liver being sold as a combo. This was news to me because I had only ever known of chicken being sold (and bought in our home) whole, and then cut up. Later, I would learn that chicken is also sold in packages comprising of a single part of the chicken - wings, whole legs, drumsticks, breasts. This was a revelation and exultation. You mean I could have 2 drumsticks, my sister and brother too without having to buy 3 whole-chickens to facilitate this? Noice! Anyway, getting back to the gizzards.
We'd buy the chicken gizzards and livers and cook it in the style of bunjal - dry curry - and eat it with dhal and rice along with hot pepper sauce or some type of achar. The food was always finger-licking good. When the men folk in the family (including extended family) and their friends got together, mommy, my aunts and elder cousins would not only cook lots of different dishes but they also made several platters and large bowls of what they called, cutters. Think bar snacks. Chunks of meat would be roasted or cooked bunjal style along with lots of fried snacks to accompany the drinks. Bunjal gizzards was a favorite among those gathered.
Sometimes I'd fry the gizzards but this is one of the easiest ways for me to prepare and enjoy gizzards. I feel less guilty about it being fried. When I cook gizzards this way, I eat it with hot plain white rice or with dhal and rice, just as I did in Guyana. Click here for the recipe if you'd like to give it a try.