Piri piri chicken

INGREDIENTS:


Serves 4

600g chicken thigh (without bone and skin)

For the marinade:


Juice of ½ lemon


4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed


2 tsp salt

For the piri piri sauce:


1 red chilli (mind or hot - to taste)


2 plump garlic cloves, peeled, crushed


Juice of ½ lemon
1

½ tsp salt


2 tsp sweet smoked paprika


50ml olive oil


1 tbsp port

1 tsp brown sugar

1. Whisk together the lemon juice and crushed garlic for the marinade. Put the chicken in a bowl and pour the marinade all over it, turning to ensure it’s well coated. Sprinkle with the salt, cover and leave at room temperature for an hour.

2. Meanwhile, roughly chop the chilli and mix with the garlic, lemon juice, paprika, oil and salt, whizz to a puree. Taste, and add more chilli if you think it needs it. Add the port and sugar if you’d prefer it sweeter. 

3. Heat a pan to medium-hot with olive oil, place the chicken thighs into it, and fry them on both sides until they get a bit brownish colour. Pour half of the sauce over them and fry/cook until the sauce evaporates. Then add the rest of the piri piri sauce, cover the pan and cook for about 20-30 minutes. Try to keep as much sauce as you can.

4. Serve with chips and lemon wedges if you want to go Portuguese, though it’s also very nice indeed with rice or freshly fried potato crisps. We prefer a salad (green salad, tomato, cucumber, spring onions) and pour the sauce over it. (...which is mostly red-coloured spicy oil)