Recipes / Chicken
Peri-peri chicken flattie
A whole chicken opened flat, marinated in chili, garlic and lemon, and cooked slowly bone side down.
- Coals
- Medium coals
- Prep
- 25 min
- On the fire
- 1 hr
- Plan ahead
- 4 hours marinating
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 1.5 kg (3.3 lb)
- Lemon wedges to serve
Peri-peri marinade
- 6 red bird's eye chilies, stems removed (use 3 for a milder sauce)
- 6 cloves garlic
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
Method
- Blend all the marinade ingredients until smooth. Pour a third into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge for basting and serving.
- Flatten the chicken. Put it breast side down, cut along both sides of the backbone with kitchen scissors and remove it. Turn the chicken over and press down hard on the breastbone until it cracks and the bird lies flat.
- Cut two or three shallow slashes into each leg and thigh. Rub the rest of the marinade all over the chicken, cover, and keep in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- Lay the chicken bone side down over medium coals. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, with the grid high enough that the skin underneath does not burn.
- Turn it skin side down and cook for 15 to 20 minutes more, basting with the marinade you set aside. Turn it back if the skin darkens too quickly.
- Rest for 10 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve with lemon wedges and the rest of the clean marinade.
Done when: the leg moves easily in its joint, the juices run clear, and a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reads 74°C (165°F).
Tips
- Most of the cooking happens bone side down. The bones protect the meat while it cooks through.
- A whole chicken needs a fire that lasts an hour. Add a few fresh coals to the side after 30 minutes.
- On a kettle braai, cook it with the lid on and the coals pushed to the sides.
- Thai chilies are a good substitute for bird's eye chilies. Wash your hands after handling them.
Peri-peri is the African bird’s eye chili, and the sauce reached South Africa from Mozambique. A flattie is a chicken with the backbone removed so it lies flat and cooks evenly.