Piri Piri Chicken
PHOTOS + VIDEO BY MARIA MIGUEL + BIBIANA NUNES
Piri Piri Chicken is spicy, tangy, and smoky, with just a hint of sweetness. If you love barbecue, but don’t have it in you to fire up the grill, this recipe is so flavorful you won’t miss the flames.
I had Piri Piri Chicken for the first time during an overnight-turned-weeklong layover in Portugal and couldn’t wait to make it at home.
The pepper that the sauce and dish are named after, the piri piri, is also known as the African bird’s eye chili since it’s native to several southeast African countries. During colonization, the Portuguese brought it to Portugal and Piri Piri chicken eventually became one of Portugal’s most famous dishes. Even the popular South African chain, Nando’s, got its inspiration from a Portuguese takeaway before launching in Johannesburg in the 1980’s. Of course the folks in the African countries of the pepper’s origin have also been using it since forever. For all those reasons, and many influences, there are tons of versions of “piri piri chicken.” Here’s my version of it.
ingredients
1 cup neutral oil (like avocado oil or canola oil)
3 fresh piri piri or birds eye chiles, stemmed
3 fresh milder chiles - like fresno but even jalapeños would work
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup brandy
1 whole chicken
make the sauce
Add all the ingredients (except the chicken, lol) into a blender and blend until smooth.
Set half aside to marinate the chicken and the other half for the dipping sauce.
prepare the chicken
Place the chicken breast side down with the legs towards you and use kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the back bone to remove it.
Use a knife to lightly slice across the bone between the breasts.
Using both hands, press the breasts apart. This will expose the sternum so you can remove it. Alternatively, after you’ve removed the backbone, you can just flip the chicken over and use the heel of your hands to press between the breasts and flatten the whole bird. Loosen the skin so that the sauce can get everywhere.
Pour on the reserved marinade and ensure it’s all over the chicken.
Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours but, ideally, overnight.
cook the chicken + sauce
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the chicken flat, breast side up, on a grill pan or regular baking pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the center of the oven.
Let the chicken rest 15 minutes before serving.
In the meantime, pour the remaining half of the sauce in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer, and cook for ~5 mins. Stirring occasionally.
NOTE: If you’re grilling this chicken outside, be sure to wipe off most of the marinade before grilling (so it doesn’t burn!). When the chicken is just about done, you can brush on the reserved, and cooked, sauce for the last few minutes of cooking.
