What You Didn't Know About Piri-Piri Chicken

Piri-piri is such a blast for your senses, isn't it? It's especially enjoyable if you like a bit of spice in your meals. As explained by Delish, piri-piri (sometimes peri-peri) chicken has its roots in two African countries, Angola and Mozambique. Piri-piri refers to the delicious sauce that gives the dish its unique qualities, made with bird's eye chillies. The name comes from the Swahili word for chile peppers (via Epicurious). Some of the most popular ingredients for the dish are chilli, oil, citrus peel, paprika, and red bell peppers. Sounds irresistible.

Fast food brand Nando's is particularly known for its take on the dish and introducing many foodies to the wonders of piri-piri chicken. As per the brand's official website, the South African restaurant chain describes their cuisine as Portuguese-African. Their specific approach to piri-piri chicken is meant to deliver a bit of heat with an unforgettable flavor that hits you hard — "magic in a bottle." The piri-piri sauce is definitely one of kind. Here's an interesting detail about piri-piri chicken that you probably didn't know.

According to a piri-piri chicken recipe from the website Epicurious, it's important to marinate chicken with the right spices for at least four hours before you grill it. That recipe advises you to use ingredients like ginger, shallots, and cilantro while preparing the mixture for your dish, and adding other ingredients like oil, lemon juice, pepper, salt, and of course, the quintessential piri-piri sauce to your blender. 

What do you next? You flatten the meat with your palm, add the marinade mixture into a baking dish and mix it up with the meat before covering it. Leave it in the fridge for a minimum of four hours, perhaps overnight before you get around to barbecuing your meat. Basically, don't get lazy and try to skip marinating chicken: you'll be glad you listened and didn't rush the cooking process. Some foods take more time than others. The results speak for themselves.