Making Piri-Piri Chicken

This post is dedicated to Farhan, who has been nagging me to make this. Though the recipe looks good, I don’t really know the whereabouts of my skewers and grill, so I used a similar recipe that’s from Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals - it looked phenomenal when he made it on the show. Be as daring as you like with the peppers; I’m using bird’s eye chillies and another one I don’t really know the name of. I also substituted ingredients here and there because I didn’t have the ones required on hand. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs because, quite honestly, I hate chicken thighs. You can take the skin off, but it really is one of the best parts of this dish - I’d recommend an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill instead.

Piri-Piri Chicken = Piri-Piri Sauce + Chicken + Pan Roasted Peppers

Piri-Piri Sauce:

[ ½ onion + 3 cloves of garlic + 10-12 chillies, or depending on your preference + 1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika + juice of 1 lemon + 2 tablespoon vinegar + a bunch of parsley + salt & pepper to taste ]

Blend all the ingredients in a blender or a liquidizer. Add 1/4 cup water into the mixture and set aside.

Chicken:

[ 4 large chicken breast, halved + 1 teaspoon fennel seeds + salt & pepper to taste ]

Put the chicken thighs on a chopping board and slash the meat on each side a few times.

Drizzle with olive oil and season, then put on the griddleor frying pan that is heating up, skin side down.

Cook until golden underneath, then turn over. Set aside when cooked.

Pan-Roasted Peppers:

[ 1 yellow bell pepper + 1 red bell pepper + 1/2 tablespoon olive oil ]

Cut the peppers into strip and roast in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Set aside.

Assembly:

Pour the piri piri sauce into a snug-fitting roasting tray or a casserole dish.

Add the chicken to the roasting tray with the sauce. Lay the roasted peppers on top.

Scatter over the sprigs of thyme (if using the original recipe - I didn’t have any so I scattered chopped parsley after it comes out of the oven), then put the tray into the middle of the oven at 200 degrees C for 10-15 minute, until cooked through and the sauce has reduced a bit.

Serve over rice or with french fries.