PORTUGUESE PIRI PIRI CHICKEN WITH HERBED WEDGES

Fiery flavours which marry the chicken and makes it finger licking good. The sauce can be stored in the fridge for 2 weeks and used as dips with other dishes. The same can be also used to marinade the fish,, paneer or lamb cubes. The hotness can be adjusted. I did not use onions in the sauce as garlic was sufficient.

Piri piri chicken 

Serves 4-6

Time: 1 hour

Piri Piri sauce 

1 red bell pepper

3-4 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

8-10 hot red chillies 

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar/white wine vinegar

1 whole chicken cut into 4-6 pieces

2 tbs lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Herbed potatoes

4-6 big potatoes scrubed and cut into wedges and boiled till 80% cooked

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 tsp mixed herbs

Method

Start with sauce first. Add all the ingredients of the sauce into a blender and blitz into a sauce form. Nutribullet works the best. Tip the sauce into a pan and cook till the sauce changes into lovely bright saffron colour and oil separates on the side. ( many don't cook the sauce but I do as I don't like the raw taste of the peppers.)

Once the sauce has cooled. Mix about 2-3 tbs of it with 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and mix. This will be the dipping sauce for the chicken and herbed wedges.

The remaining sauce will be used to marinade the chicken. Leave the chicken for 30 minutes (overnight) in the refrigerator. 

 

To make the herbed wedges, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then toss the potato wedges to coat well. Arrange the wedges cut side up and roast them for 20 minutes at 200'C until crisp.

 

As the potatoes are being roasted in the oven, the chicken can be cooked in the oven for 25-30 minutes or as I used the charcoals to cook it. Keep on basting the sauce on the chicken while grilling until it's cooked through. 

Serve the chicken with herbed wedges and Piri Piri mayonnaise sauce and some coriander yoghurt sauce.