My love for good peri-peri chicken started 15 years ago, on our regular holiday to Mozambique, Ponto Do Ouro. We would go there as a family to swim with the dolphins, and enjoy holidaying on the beach.
One of my favourite culinary treats, and a big part of the Portuguese culture is the flame grilled peri-peri chicken. In this small town there was a tiny rusti-looking place, which only sold peri-peri chicken, chips and salad. It quickly became our local food hangout and since then I have had a small obsession with flamed grilled chicken.
The secret to making a good peri-peri chicken is the devilishly hot birds-eye chillies. You must use them if you want not just hot, but fragrant chicken. We buy them dried in large bags from the local markets in Mozambique, and then make our own peri-peri.
This year my mom grew her own bird’s eye chillies, and having them fresh in my kitchen inspired me to make this delicious, succulent dish. I par-cooked the chicken in the oven and then placed them on the braai to give them a crispy and slightly charred skin. The marinade imparts a lemony and paprika taste with a gentle hit of heat from the chillies.
I highly recommend this as a lazy, Sunday afternoon family lunch. You can serve the chicken with big bowl of crispy, fresh salad and hot chips or even Portuguese bread.
Ingredients:
Serves 3 to 4
One whole chicken cut into pieces – with skin on (I used pieces for convenience, but you can use a whole chicken flatty)
100mls olive oil
8 garlic cloves – crushed
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
8 bay leaves – torn
2 tbsp. peri-peri – adjust to taste (I used the sauce I had made by blitzing the chillies with oil. If you use whole ones then slice them)
Recipe:
1 Mix all the marinade ingredients together.
2 Pour the marinade into a zip lock bag.
3 Add the chicken pieces.
4 Seal bag and move chicken around until it is coated in the marinade.
5 Leave for 24 hours in the fridge, moving the chicken around occasionally.
6 Place pieces in an ovenproof dish, and cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven 180°C for 30 minutes.
7 Braai the pieces on a low heat, dipping them in the marinade a few times until slightly charred and crispy.
8 Once cooked squeeze lemon over the chicken.
Dees notes:
• Keep an eye on the chicken when it’s on the braai, the oil in the marinade is flammable and you don’t want the chicken to burn.
• Cook the chicken low and slow on the braai.
• Serve with hot chips or potato wedges, and a tomato, onion and parsley salad.
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