Who doesn't love spicy chicken on the barbeque? One of life's pleasures.
I eat it a lot and have high standards when it comes to this dish. I have family that live in Portugal where it's a go to dish. My brother-inlaws version is top drawer and always something to look forward to. Sitting in the sun catching up over a few Super Bocks while the chicken slowly cooks away over the coals, sending over drool inducing wafts. Mmmmmmm

Not wanting to get flamed I thought I'd do some research into peri peri vs piri piri and the origins of this fabled sauce. Turns out you can also say pili pili, depending on which country you are in.

In short, it's a Mozambique dish using imported Portuguese birds eye chillies. lemon juice and a little water, created in the late 1800s. Slowly reduced over many hours to create something amazing.

So I won't be bold and call this traditional but it sure is tasty.

If you've read my other posts, you know I love a ratio. This is a simple one to remember: 1 part oil, 1 part vinegar, 1 part lemon juice with garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to your tastes.

In recent times I started adding some balsamic vinegar following a discussion about the sauce with a friend who swore by it. I can say that it does add a little something, however, if you don't have any, just replace it with any other tasty vinegar.

Step 1 - Spatchcock the chicken

A good butcher will do this if you don't want to get cracking with this but it's very simple to do with sharp tools
Make sure you have a thick bladed sharp knife to hand
Turn the chicken over so it's backbone is facing you
Score down either side of the backbone as shown
Put the chicken so it's the cavity and parsons nose is now pointing up
With the heel of the knife or some very sharp kitchen scissors, cut down through the bones following the score marks to remove the backbone
Turn over and press down to flatten the chicken a little, there should be some extra cracking

Step 2 - Marinade

To make the marinade combine the ingredients in a blender and blitz. This homogenises the sauce perfectly.
If you don't have one, a jam jar shaken vigorously will do the trick
Note: If you don't have garlic powder, finely chopped fresh garlic will work well too, but you'll find the marinade will be runnier
With a sharp skewer pierce the chicken skin on the breast and legs to ensure that the marinade penetrates
Pour the marinade all over the chicken and ensure its well covered
Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours
I like to prep mine after breakfast ready for tea time
Note: This does still work well if you just want to get it on the coals

Step 3 - Cook the Chook

Have a hot barbeque ready to go (Can do in the oven at 180C as well) with the coals to one side
Put the chicken as far away from the coals as possible
Reserve the marinade as you will want to baste the chicken as it cooks every 15-20 minutes
Make sure that the marinade doesn't burn so you don't want it too hot. Adjust your vent as required
You want to pull out the chicken when it is 68C in the centre of the breast
This will be roughly about 90 minutes. It will take slightly longer on the coals as the lid gets opened repeatedly to baste and to look at and go 'mmmmmmm'
Cover with some tin foil and let stand for about 20 minutes
The temperature will go up to at least 74C