Piri Piri Chicken

This Piri Piri Chicken is spicy and delicious. It can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. The marinade can be tossed on any part of the chicken you like, which you can roast, fry or grill. Serve it with a salad, potatoes, rice or in burritos. It tastes delicious hot and cold, so any leftovers aren’t a problem.  

Well, hello again from another lockdown, light edition this time. You’d think this time around it would not feel like an impending apocalypse, and it is not quite as bad as last time (Pantry Staples to Always Have at Home in Case…), but toilet paper and paper towels are still hard to find. Is it ironic that you have to panic buy toilet paper because people are panic buying all the toilet paper and you don’t want to run out? The last few days I have been preparing to not have to go shopping anymore this entire month, hence why this post is a few days late. I really wanted to get back on my posting schedule but this pandemic is something else. We’ll see what I will be making once I have run out of fresh produce by next week. 

Anyway, on to nicer topics that have nothing to do with impending doom, if you can handle spice that is. This recipe I have been experimenting with to get it just right. Sometimes the marinade was too wet, other times too dry. I tried it on a variety of chicken cuts preparing it a variety of ways. I even tried it on cauliflower, but more on this some other time. This is the best piri piri chicken you will ever make because the flavour profile is more complex than just hot chicken whilst being succulent and tender. You can also adjust how hot you like it, dial the chili powder and hot sauce down in the marinade if you don’t like it that spicy. Whether you want to roast, fry or grill it this is the recipe for you. You can serve it however you like, too. I have served piri piri chicken legs with a Western salad (Western Salad with Homemade Southwest Dressing) or mashed potatoes and veggies. The chicken breast I like to grill and make piri piri burritos with sautéed vegetables, pico de gallo, salad and crema (sour cream loosened with some lime juice). If you don’t have sour cream you can also use Greek yogurt. It is one of my favourite things to eat, which is healthy, delicious and quickly made. What more could you possibly want.   

Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs Chicken (legs, wings, thighs, breast)
• 1-2 tbl neutral vegetable oil
• 3 tsp salt
• 3 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tbl piri piri hot sauce (vinegar based)
• lime juice

Instructions:

1. Make the marinade in a separate bowl by mixing the oil with the spices and hot sauce. If you are afraid of too much heat add the hot sauce little by little tasting in between. 
2. Apply the marinade to whatever part of chicken you have on hand and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. 
3. Let the meat come to room temperature before cooking it. Legs, wings and thighs can be roasted very well at 200 °C for 30-45 minutes (depending on size and cut) flipping it halfway through cooking time until golden and crispy. It can also be shallow fried in a pan in some neutral vegetable oil or deep fried by tossing it in some flour first. Chicken breast is best suited for frying in a pan or grilling until golden, in the oven it can become too hard.
4. Serve the piri piri chicken with a side salad, potatoes or in burrito with beans and salad with a spritz of lime juice.   

---

Piri Piri ChickenDownload

---

There you have an easy and delicious recipe for piri piri chicken. I am working on a vegan variety, but I still have some testing to do with that. We might not get the same texture, obviously, but something with a similar flavour that functions as a side to a variety of dishes would be great. I hope you enjoyed this post and have a great day. Stay safe and wear a mask!