Piri Piri Chicken
In reaction to eating in Nandos the other day, I present a proper Piri Piri chicken. Piri Piri is a South African word for the very small hot chilli. This recipe can be a bit on the firey side, so you may want to be cautious how many chillies you actually use.
Like my other recipes, quality ingredients count. Nandos uses cheap chicken and it shows. Don’t fall for the same mistake! Use a small, free range bird. They are richer and cook faster, which is good with domestic cookers. If you have lots of people, dont buy a big chicken, buy two small birds – looks more fun too!
- 1 small whole Free Range Chicken
- 10 small hot chilli
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbs fresh oregano
- 2 tbs fresh Parsley
- Black Pepper
- Sea Salt
- 150 ml olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 50 ml Sherry vinegar
The chicken needs to be a {glossary}Spatchcock{/glossary} chicken. Just take a whole chicken, cut down the breast bone and spread out so it is flat. Trim off any loose skin. With a sharp knife put a couple of deep cuts into the breast and thighs.
Put the chillies into the oven for a few minutes, just to soften – make sure they do not blacken. Make the marinade by combining all the rest of the ingredients with the chillies in a blender and roughly blending them.
Rub some of this marinade all over the chicken working it under the skin as well as over it. Bung in a plastic bag and leave it for a couple of hours. Nandos boast that they marinate their chicken for 24 hours – completely unnecessary, meat isn’t that absorbent. 2 hours is fine.
Preheat your oven. On the hob, heat up a griddle to very hot. Cook the chicken on the griddle for a couple of minutes each side until the skin has gone golden. Transfer to an oven dish, cover with foil and cook in the oven for around 30 minutes or until cooked through. Just before the end, through in the rest of the sauce over the chicken.
As an alternative to the griddle you can start the chicken on a hot barbecue, but you may still want to finish it in the oven to keep it moist.
Serve with {glossary}Straw Chips{/glossary} and a large salad.
If you want it less hot, either de-seed the chillies or reduce the quantity. You can also use a milder chilli, but the flavour does change a little.
Related posts:
- Pan Fried Chicken Livers
- Better than Chicken Tikka Masala
- Best Chicken Soup
- The Merry Chicken Out Campaign
- Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup
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