Chefs Binge · African · Serves 4 servings

Peri Peri Chicken: Seasoning & Sauce Recipe

A peri peri seasoning blend and the sauce made from it, built on bird's eye chilli, paprika and red wine vinegar for grilled chicken.

Prep

10 min

Cook

15 min

Total

25 min

Serves

4 servings

Per serving

400 kcal

Ingredients

Peri Peri Seasoning Ingredients

3 tbsp Dried Bird's Eye Chilli - (Adjust to preferred spice level)

2 tbsp Paprika

1 tbsp Dried Oregano

2 tbsp Ground Coriander

1 tbsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

½ tsp Ground Cardamom

1 tsp Caster sugar

1 pinch Mace

Peri Peri Sauce Ingredients

10 Bird's Eye Chillies - Dried or Fresh

5 Garlic Cloves - peeled

1 Onion, small - chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper - seeded and chopped

120 ml Red Wine Vinegar

120 ml Refined Olive Oil

1 Lemon, juice and zest

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Oregano

1 tbsp Sugar - Adjust to taste

1 tsp Salt - Adjust to taste

Peri Peri Chicken Ingredients

4 Chicken breasts - cut in half

Equipment

Spice Blender · Food processor · Kitchen Thermometer · Cast Iron Griddle Pan

Method

Mixing Ingredients. Tip the dry ingredients into a jar or a spice blender and shake or blitz until the colour is even. Nothing needs cooking. Toasting and grinding whole coriander and cardamom is better still if you have five minutes. Store it somewhere cool and dark, in an airtight jar or a vacuum-sealed bag; it fades rather than spoils, so make what you will get through.

Preparing the Chillies. Fresh chillies: the heat is made in the white pith the seeds are attached to, not in the seeds themselves and not in the flesh. The seeds are only hot because the pith leaks onto them, so scraping the pith out is the real dial. Leave the lot in for a properly hot sauce, strip the pith from half of them for something around medium, or take all of it out for a warm, aromatic sauce that still tastes of chilli. Taste a small piece raw before you commit, because chillies vary enormously even from the same plant.Dried chillies: cover them in just-boiled water and leave them 20 to 30 minutes until soft and pliable, then deseed if you want it milder. Keep a little of the soaking water to help the blender along.Substitution: if you cannot find bird's eye chillies, cayenne or another hot variety works. Adjust the quantity to the heat of what you have rather than matching the number.Wear gloves, or keep your hands away from your eyes for the rest of the evening.

Blending. Chillies, garlic, onion, red bell pepper, the lemon juice and zest and the red wine vinegar into the blender. Run it until everything is finely chopped rather than smooth.

Add Spices. Add the paprika, oregano, sugar and salt, then blend again. The sugar is balancing the vinegar rather than sweetening the sauce.

Add Oil. With the motor running, pour the oil in slowly in a thin stream so the sauce comes together glossy instead of splitting.

Cooking. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. This will meld the flavours together and mellow out the vinegar's sharpness.

Cool and Store. Let the sauce cool completely, then transfer it to a sterilised glass jar or bottle. It keeps in the fridge for about a month, so it is worth making the full batch even for one meal.

Marinating. Score the chicken and thoroughly coat it with oil and Peri Peri seasoning blend. You can add a ladle of sauce to your marination instead of oil. For the best results, marinate the chicken overnight.

Grilling. Grill, griddle or fry over a medium-high heat, turning once rather than constantly so the outside chars. Chicken breast is done at 72°C (162°F) internal, taken with a probe rather than judged by eye, because peri peri chicken goes dark long before it is cooked through.

Serve. Rest the chicken for five minutes before slicing, then spoon over more of the sauce and put the rest of the jar on the table. Serving suggestions are on the post.

Chef’s notes

The chillies set the heat, and the pith and seeds carry it. Leave everything in for a properly hot sauce, deseed half for medium, deseed the lot for warm and aromatic. Taste a raw piece first: chillies vary enormously even from the same plant.

Overnight marinade. Half an hour seasons the surface; overnight gets it into the meat. It is the biggest single improvement you can make to this dish.

Cuts. Written for breast, but better on the bone. Thighs or drumsticks want 30 to 35 minutes in a hot oven; a spatchcocked bird about 45 minutes at 200C.

On 72C. That is with a five-minute rest, which is a recognised time-and-temperature combination. If you prefer the simpler official single reading, the FSA figure is 75C. Use a probe: peri peri chicken goes dark outside long before it is done inside.

The sauce keeps a month in a sterilised jar in the fridge, so make the full batch.

The seasoning is not just for chicken. Chips, roast potatoes, prawns, corn, halloumi, popcorn. Stir it into mayo or soft butter for a quick dip.

Per serving Calories 400 kcal · Protein 58 g · Carbs 5 g · Fat 12 g · Fibre 0.2 g · Sugar 0.5 g

chefsbinge.com/peri-peri-chicken-seasoning-sauce-recipe

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