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A chicken braai for a crowd

Sticky chutney drumsticks, chicken sosaties, buttered mielies and a make-ahead curried noodle salad, with s'mores for the children. Feeds twelve.

For 12 people · 5 dishes

Main · for 12

Chicken

Sticky chutney chicken drumsticks

Drumsticks marinated in fruit chutney, tomato sauce and Worcestershire, cooked slowly over medium coals and basted until sticky.

Medium coals 50 min

Main

Chicken

Chicken sosaties with apricot and curry

Skewers of chicken thigh, dried apricot and onion in a sweet, mild Cape curry marinade.

Medium coals 45 min

Side · for 12

Sides

Braaied mielies with flavoured butters

Sweetcorn cobs cooked in foil over medium coals, then charred on the grid and finished with curry, chakalaka, herb or lime-chilli butter.

Medium coals 40 min

Side · for 12

Sides

Curried noodle salad (kerrie noedelslaai)

Pasta screws in a sweet and sour curry dressing made from ketchup, vinegar, sugar and chutney, chilled overnight.

No fire needed 30 min

Dessert · for 12

Dessert

Braai s'mores with Tennis biscuits

Marshmallows toasted on skewers over the last of the coals, sandwiched between coconut Tennis biscuits with melted chocolate.

Low coals 15 min

Chicken is a cheap way to feed a big family, everything here cooks over medium coals, and most of the work is done the day before. Sosaties are marinated meat on skewers, and mielies are corn on the cob. For 12 people the drumsticks are doubled (24 drumsticks, two each), and the mielies, noodle salad and s’mores are scaled to 12. The recipe links below open at those amounts. One batch of sosaties gives everyone a skewer on top. See how much meat per person.

The day before

  • Make the curried noodle salad. It needs at least 6 hours in the fridge, or overnight.
  • Make the sosatie marinade and let it cool. Keep a third back for basting, and marinate the chicken in the rest overnight.
  • Marinate the drumsticks overnight, again keeping a third of the marinade back for basting.
  • Make the flavoured butters for the mielies and keep them chilled.

On the day

  • 2 hours before you eat: Light a big wood fire. It takes 45 to 90 minutes to burn down to coals. Coals give useful heat for 45 to 60 minutes, so keep a small second fire going to one side.
  • 1 hour 30 minutes before: Soak the apricots for 20 minutes and any wooden skewers for 30 minutes. Thread the sosaties. Wrap the mielies in foil with a slice of butter.
  • 50 minutes before: Rake the coals into a two-zone fire, put the grid on for 5 minutes and brush it clean.
  • 45 minutes before: Drumsticks over medium coals, turned every 5 minutes. Move any that char to the cool side. Mielie parcels on at the edge for 20 minutes, turned every 5 minutes, then kept wrapped at the edge.
  • 20 minutes before: Sosaties on over medium coals for 12 to 15 minutes, turned every few minutes. Start basting the drumsticks.
  • 10 minutes before: Baste the sosaties for their last 5 minutes. Check the chicken reads 74°C (165°F). Unwrap the mielies and char them on the grid for 2 to 3 minutes.
  • After the meal: S’mores over the last of the coals.

Make it easier

  • The chutney and jam burn quickly. Only baste near the end.
  • Throw away any marinade the raw chicken sat in.