Peri Peri Chicken
What is a foody? My quick definition is: a person who enjoys cuisine from different cultures and likes to try new dishes when going out or at home 🏡. It’s also a person without limitations willing to get out of their comfort zone.
Without knowing, I’ve been a foody all my life! When I was a child 👧, I enjoyed watching cooking shows and going through my mother’s cookbooks especially the ones with pictures. As I was getting older and loved reading, many times I came across dishes in a book that I’d never heard of and was curious to try them. Also both of my parents liked trying new recipes and experimenting with new ingredients – perhaps not as much as me but still, they were “culinarily” curious.
As I mentioned above, getting out of our comfort zones and trying new dishes is a passion as a foody. I won’t go to the extent of eating bugs 🦗 like some do – I have too much respect for classic cuisines – but I’m certainly game to experiment with foreign dishes like this one… Peri Peri Chicken!
This is an incredible recipe and we enjoy it a lot! Let’s be straight here… it’s all about the sauce! Is it zippy? If you use the same amount of peppers 🌶 that I use for the dish, the answer is yes but you can always make it either milder or spicier. I find 3 of these little guys are sufficient. If you want it milder, remove the seeds and the ribs.
My “heat” tolerance varies from one day to another. Peri Peri Chicken has heat and to cool off our mouth 🥵 from eating it, I like to make a yogurt sauce. Nothing is fancy about it but it’s safe to make this quick and easy yogurt sauce to tame it down a little.
Peri-peri or piri-piri peppers were produced by the Portuguese and introduced in the Southern parts of Africa. Pilipili in Swahili means “pepper” and the name we know now (peri-peri) is probably derived from it. They are also known as African Bird’s Eye Chili’s. The best substitutes are either cayenne peppers or bird’s eye chili peppers – the last one is what I prefer using 🥰.
Get out of your comfort zone and make this flavorful Peri Peri Chicken! It’s easy to make and a great African dish to enjoy anytime. Served with a yogurt sauce, a side of roasted potatoes and salad 🥗, this is a “true” foody meal!
Bon Appétit!🍽
Check out these other incredible chicken recipes…😀
– North African Chicken Thighs with Dates & Pomegranate Molasses
– Dakgangjeong – Sweet & Spicy Crispy Korean Chicken
– Indian Butter Chicken
– Chicken Française
– Hawaiian Chicken Curry
– Chicken Stuffed Crêpes with Poblano Sauce
– Southwest Chicken Thighs
and for even more International recipes 🌎, click on this link… Recipe Category • International
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Peri Peri Chicken
Hover to scale
Ingredients
PERI PERI SAUCE
- 1 1/4 cups white onions, roughly chopped
- 1 1/4 cups red peppers, roughly chopped
- 4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 to 4 whole bird's eye chili peppers, stem removed
- 2 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1/2 tbsp. ground Himalayan pink salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste (I always use mixed peppercorns)
- 1/2 cup canola oil tips & tricks
- 2 ounces Port wine
- 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice tips & tricks
- 4 large chicken legs, skin on and bone-in
YOGURT SAUCE
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup light sour cream
- 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice tips & tricks
- 1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped plus more for garnish tips & tricks
- ground Himalayan pink salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I always use mixed peppercorns)
Directions
- In the jar of a blender, add white onions, red peppers, garlic cloves, bird’s eye chili peppers, smoked paprika, brown sugar, rosemary, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, canola oil, Port wine and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Place the lid and process until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large measuring cup and set aside.
- In a 9x13-inch baking dish, place the chicken legs and pour just enough sauce to coat; flip them and pour on more sauce.
- Leave them skin side up, cover and transfer to the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Cover the remaining sauce and set aside for later.
- A few hours later, take the chicken legs out of the fridge and bring them back to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375ºF
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine all the yogurt sauce ingredients. Stir well, cover and keep chilled until needed.
- Transfer the baking dish to the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and carefully flip them on the other side before spooning on half of the remaining peri-peri sauce on top of the legs making sure to cover the surface.
- Return them back to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
- When time is up, take them out, flip them again (skin side up) and spoon on the remaining peri-peri sauce, covering the meat entirely.
- Return them to the oven for the last 20 minutes.
- When the cooking is done, put the broiler on and cook them for 5 minutes or until nicely charred. Remove from the heat and let them rest for 5 minutes.
- When ready to eat, sprinkle on some fresh chopped cilantro and serve with yogurt sauce and a side of salad and roasted potatoes.
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