We decided to add these Piri Piri Chicken Wings to our menu for BBQ night (see my other posts for the rest of the menu from that night: sticky BBQ ribs, sweet potato wedges and slaw). It was the first time I've ever attempted to make Piri Piri sauce from scratch and I was surprised at just how easy it is - never again will I buy bottled Piri Piri sauce! I've also included a recipe for lemon-coriander yoghurt that goes beautifully with these.
Ingredients
This recipe served 4 as a side dish and made enough sauce for this amount of chicken so you may need to adjust the amounts if you want to serve more/less.
For the Piri Piri Chicken Wings:
8 Chicken wings/drumsticks
6-12 fresh red chillies (we keep a stash of red and green chilllies in the freezer, they defrost in seconds and will keep for quite a while in there!)
1 tbsp garlic (blanched and chopped)
1 tsp salt flakes (I used Himalayan pink salt, I'm a big fan!)
½ tsp oregano
½ tbsp paprika
100ml/3½fl oz olive oil
50ml/1¾fl oz red wine vinegar
For the Lemon-Coriander Yoghurt:
2⁄3 cup/150 ml natural yoghurt
1⁄3 cup/75 ml finely chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1⁄3 cup/75 ml finely chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 (160°C for fan ovens). Place the chillies on a roasting tray and roast them for 10 minutes. Whilst the chillies are in the oven, blanch your garlic in boiling water for 3 or 4 minutes. Allow the chillies and garlic to cool.
Roughly chop the chillies and garlic and add to a saucepan with the salt, oregano, paprika, olive oil and vinegar. Simmer the mixture for 2-3 minutes.
Allow the mixture to cool and then blend it to a purée (I used the amazing bullet again for this!).
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| Preparing the Piri Piri marinade |
I always tend to score meat before I marinate it and these chicken wings were no exception. Once scored, place your chicken pieces in a sealable plastic bag (a sandwich bag or whatever they are called!), add about half of the sauce and make sure all the chicken pieces are coated. Seal the bag and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Obviously the longer the better really, overnight if you can!
When you're ready to cook the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook it on a griddle pan for 2-3 minutes on each side until the chicken has taken on a golden brown colour. Then transfer the chicken to a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Whilst cooking in the oven, bast the chicken with the remaining Piri Piri sauce to make it extra tender and juicy.
The lemon coriander yoghurt is super simple, just stir together the natural yoghurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, coriander, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
If you're not planning on using all the sauce immediately, it will store for about a month in a lidded container kept in the fridge, just make sure you give it a shake before you use it!
Please note all photographs used in this blog entry are actual pictures of my cooking, not file photos.
