Peri-peri marinade
A hot, sharp marinade of bird's eye chilli, garlic, lemon, vinegar and paprika, blended raw with oil for chicken pieces, wings or a flattie.
- CoalsGas
- No fire needed
- Prep
- 10 min
- On the fire
- 0 min
- Plan ahead
- 4 to 12 hours marinating
- Serves
- makes about 250 ml (1 cup), enough for 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) chicken
- Done at
- 165°F (74°C)
Ingredients
Method
- Put the chillies, garlic, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, paprika, oregano, bay leaf, salt and sugar in a blender. Blend until fine, then pour in the oil with the motor running.
- Pour a third of the marinade into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge. This is for basting and serving.
- Cut two or three shallow slashes into each piece of chicken. Put it in a glass dish or zip-seal bag, add the rest of the marinade and rub it into the cuts.
- Cover and refrigerate. Give chicken pieces and wings at least 4 hours and a flattie 8 to 12 hours, turning the meat once halfway. Do not go past 24 hours.
- Take the chicken out 30 minutes before it goes on. Wipe off the thick excess with paper towel so the garlic and paprika do not burn.
- Cook over medium coals. Wings take 20 to 25 minutes, pieces 30 to 40 minutes and a flattie 50 to 60 minutes, mostly bone side down. Move the meat to the cooler side if fat flares up.
- Baste with the clean marinade from the jar in the last 10 minutes. If you want to use the marinade the raw chicken sat in, boil it hard for 2 to 3 minutes first.
Done when: the chicken has taken on the red colour of the marinade, and once cooked a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reads 74°C (165°F).
Tips
- It suits other meat too. Prawns: 30 minutes marinating, 2 to 3 minutes a side on hot coals. Pork chops: 4 hours, 12 to 15 minutes on medium coals. Firm white fish: 30 minutes, 8 to 10 minutes on medium coals.
- Wear gloves when you handle the chillies, or wash your hands well. For a milder marinade, use 4 chillies and take out the seeds.
- The marinade keeps for a week in a closed jar in the fridge. Shake it before use.
Peri-peri is the small, fierce African bird’s eye chilli, and the name now covers the sauce made from it. Portuguese settlers in Mozambique mixed it with garlic, lemon and vinegar, and the habit crossed the border into South Africa, where it became a braai staple. This raw version is the same marinade used for the peri-peri chicken flattie.
Source
Adapted from Homemade Peri Peri Sauce (Piri Piri Sauce) at Simply Delicious and Peri Peri Sauce at Chef Billy Parisi.