503-248-2015

Peri Peri Chicken

Recipe adapted from "The South African Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery" by Sannie Smit and Margaret Fulton

This is a traditional South African dish that's quick and easy to make on those busy days when you don't have lots of time but you want lots of flavour. The chicken is basted with a spicy sauce and then grilled under the broiler of the oven or over coals.

1 chicken breast per person

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Basting Mixture:

¼ cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped finely

½-1 teaspoon peri peri powder * (See below)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

For the basting mixture, heat the olive oil. Add garlic and fry gently until golden brown. Remove from heat and add peri peri powder and lemon juice. This mixture can be made ahead and kept refrigerated.

If using the broiler, arrange chicken on the rack of a grilling pan. Grill away from the heat for 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked; baste with the basting mixture occasionally (2-3 times during cooking). If barbecuing, cook the chicken over the coals, basting 2-3 times during the cooking. 

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately with lemon wedges and thick slices of crusty bread.

* Peri peri is a very hot spice from South Africa, made from the African bird's eye chili. (It is rated as one of the hottest chillies in the world, on a par with the habanero pepper, so use sparingly). It was used extensively by the Portuguese settlers in Southern Africa.

* The basting mixture can be used for a variety of dishes and goes especially with prawns.

* See our South African collection, available in the store now.