Mozambican Peri-Peri Chicken Wings Recipe

Mozambican foods often combine Portuguese, African and Indian influences. Most locals refer to peri-peri as piri-piri and recipes vary from region to region. Regardless, the basic ingredients for a good peri-peri are chilli, lemon, vegetable oil, garlic and salt. Central to the success of any chicken peri-peri dish, the poultry needs to marinate for at least two hours before being cooked and devoured. At GOLD we serve ours with a refreshing Ethiopian IAB dip (included below).

Recipe by: GOLD Restaurant
Serves: 8
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation: 30 minutes (plus two hours to marinade)
Cooking: 20 – 30 minutes (frying) keeps for a week.

Ingredients

T = tablespoon
t = teaspoon

Mozambican peri-peri chicken wings:

• 4 T red chillies, finely chopped
• 2 T garlic, finely chopped
• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 3 T salt
• 16 medium sized chicken wings

Ethiopian IAB Dip:

• 250 g chunky cottage cheese
• 250 g plain feta cheese
• 250 g plain thick yoghurt
• 1 T grated lemon rind
• 1 t fresh oregano
• 1 t fresh basil
• 1 t fresh thyme
• 1 t freshly ground pepper
• ½ t salt
• ¼ spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 t castor sugar
• 2 t fresh garlic, finely chopped

Method

Mozambican peri-peri chicken wings:

1. To make the marinade, place in a blender and whizz together the chilli, garlic, ½ a cup of the vegetable oil (leaving 1 cup for shallow frying), lemon juice, and 2 T of the salt (leaving 1 T to salt the chicken wings).
2. Place the wings in a large stainless steel bowl and use 1 T of the salt to season. Pour half the marinade onto the wings and rub into the meat with your hands. Leave to marinate for at least two hours.
3. Fry wings in hot oil on a medium heat until both sides are crispy.
4. When all the wings are cooked, place them in a serving dish and pour the remaining marinade over them.

Ethiopian IAB dip:

1. Combine all IAB ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Transfer into a dip bowl for serving.

Tip: The marinade can be pre prepared in bulk and kept in the refrigerator for months. The IAB dip can be prepped in advance. In fact, it tastes better after two days and keeps for a week.