Mozambique Piri Piri Chicken Recipes

MOZAMBIQUE: PIRI PIRI CHICKEN

Steps:

• For the sauce
• Combine in glass jar. Shake or blend with immersion blender.
• Rest, covered in refrigerator for 1-24 hours (the longer the better).
• For the chicken
• Start a full chimney of charcoal and prepare grill for indirect heat with a disposable drip pan (Feel free to do this before you start the sauce)
• Place chicken flat on grill (with breasts facing away from coals if possible), skin-side up and apply piri piri sauce
• Grill 30 minutes, basting with sauce every 10-15 minutes
• Check temperature
• Grill 20-30 minutes more until breast reaches 160-165F (71- 74C) and the thigh is 165-170F (74-77C) flipping the chicken during last 10 minutes so skin gets crispy
• Rest chicken off-heat loosely tented with foil for 10-15 minutes
• Carve and serve with piri piri sauce

PERI PERI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Trim chicken of excess fat and pat dry with a cloth or paper napkin. Rub with lemon, and 2 teaspoons creole spice or season with salt and pepper.
• Place the onions, garlic, basil, oregano, bell pepper, and peri peri sauce in a food processor or blender, then add olive oil. Pulse for about 30 seconds until blended.
• Drench the chicken with peri peri marinade, place in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
• When ready to grill, using a thong remove chicken from the peri peri marinade and remove excess marinade. Reserve the marinade.
• Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
• Place chicken on the grill and grill for about 10-15 minutes on each side you may need to turn the chicken occasionally on each side until it is cooked all the way. Do this in batches if you have a small grill.
• In a small saucepan simmer the remaining peri peri marinade and the one from the chicken for about 7 minutes. Serve with chicken or mix with chicken.

PIRI-PIRI CHICKEN

Steps:

• For glaze:
• Melt butter in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cilantro and garlic; cook until garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add piri-piri sauce and lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 2 minutes. DO AHEAD: Glaze can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before using.
• For chicken:
• Finely chop cilantro, ginger, shallot, and garlic in processor. Add piri-piri sauce, 1/4 cup oil, lemon juice, coarse salt, and pepper; process marinade to blend.
• Place chicken, skin side up, on work surface. Using palm of hand, press on breastbone to flatten chicken. Tuck wing tips under. Pour half of marinade into 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Open chicken like book; place skin side down in single layer in dish. Pour remaining marinade over. Cover; chill at least 4 hours or overnight, turning chicken occasionally.
• Remove top rack from barbecue. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). If using 2-burner gas grill, light 1 burner. If using 3-burner gas grill, do not light center burner. If using charcoal grill, light briquettes in chimney and pour onto 1 side of lower grill rack. Place disposable aluminum pan on unlit part of grill. Place upper grill rack on barbecue; brush with oil.
• Remove chicken from marinade. Arrange skin side up on grill rack above drip pan. Cover barbecue; grill until skin is browned and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F, turning often, about 40 minutes. Transfer to platter. Pour warm glaze over.

PIRI-PIRI CHICKEN

Steps:

• To make the marinade, tip the dried chillies and the vinegar into a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave the chillies to soak until the vinegar is cold. Put the red chillies, garlic, soaked dried chillies and vinegar in a food processor and blitz. Add the smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, sugar, a pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Blitz again to a paste and set aside.
• Sit the chicken in a shallow dish and use a small knife to score all over with cuts 1cm deep. Make sure you do the legs and the underside. Tip the marinade over the chicken and massage into the cuts. Cover and chill for at least 4 hrs, but overnight would be better.
• When you're ready to cook, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast the chicken for 1 hr, then turn the heat up to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and cook for a further 30-35 mins until a crust has formed on the outside of the chicken.
• Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 30 mins. Serve with homemade wedges or jacket potatoes, coleslaw, some buttered corn cobs and chilli & mint peas.