Piri-piri sauce
A sauce the Portuguese brought back from Mozambique and Angola, which became the symbol of their grilling — frango piri-piri, grilled chicken, does not exist without it. Piri-piri is the name of small, very hot chillies the Portuguese carried from the Americas to Africa, and the sauce is chilli, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a splash of brandy. Roasting the chillies before blending softens their raw edge and adds smoky sweetness. The sauce is hot, sharp and rich all at once — and improves after a day in the fridge.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Roasting the chillies 10 min
- Blending 10 min
- Cooking 5 min
- Maturing 1440 min
Step by step
0 / 8 donePut on gloves
When handling 20 bird's eye chillies wear gloves and keep your hands off your face. Capsaicin stays on skin for hours and does not wash off with water. Open a window too — roasting chilli is very irritating.
Ingredients: 20 g red bird's eye chillies · ½ pcs red pepper · 4 cloves garlic
Roast the chillies, pepper and garlic
Spread the chillies, sliced pepper and unpeeled garlic on a tray and roast 8–10 minutes at 220°C, until the skins are patchily charred. Roasting takes away the chilli's raw green note and adds smoky sweetness.
Ingredients: 20 g red bird's eye chillies · ½ pcs red pepper · 4 cloves garlic
Charred patches — smoky sweetness instead of raw heat.Clean the chillies
Cut off the chilli stems and squeeze the garlic from its skins. Keep the seeds for a very hot sauce — remove half for medium heat. Most of the heat sits in the white membranes the seeds cling to.
Ingredients: 20 g red bird's eye chillies · ½ pcs red pepper · 4 cloves garlic
Blend with lemon and seasoning
Blend the chillies, pepper and garlic with the lemon juice, vinegar, sweet paprika, oregano and salt to a smooth paste. Lemon and vinegar are not just flavour — the acidity preserves the sauce.
Ingredients: 60 ml lemon juice · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar · 120 ml olive oil · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 1 tsp dried oregano · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp brandy or whisky
Stream in the oil
With the blender running pour in the oil in a thin stream, until the sauce is thick and glossy. Oil rounds the heat and makes the sauce cling to meat rather than run off it.
Ingredients: 60 ml lemon juice · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar · 120 ml olive oil · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 1 tsp dried oregano · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp brandy or whisky
Oil in a stream — thick, glossy and clinging.Heat briefly with a bay leaf
Transfer the sauce to a small pan, add the bay leaf and heat 5 minutes over low heat, without boiling hard. This marries the flavours and extends the sauce's life to several weeks.
Ingredients: 60 ml lemon juice · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar · 120 ml olive oil · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 1 tsp dried oregano · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp brandy or whisky
Add the brandy
Take off the heat and stir in a spoon of brandy or whisky. A Portuguese habit — the alcohol adds depth and acts as an extra preservative. Remove the bay leaf.
Ingredients: 60 ml lemon juice · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar · 120 ml olive oil · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 1 tsp dried oregano · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp brandy or whisky
Bottle and rest a day
Pour the hot sauce into a sterilised bottle, cool and refrigerate. It is best after 24 hours, once the heat has evened out. It keeps a month; shake before use, as the oil separates.
Ingredients: 60 ml lemon juice · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar · 120 ml olive oil · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 1 tsp dried oregano · 1 pcs bay leaf · 1 tsp salt · 1 tbsp brandy or whisky
After a day the heat evens out.
Before you start
For grilled chicken
Frango piri-piri is a spatchcocked chicken marinated overnight in half the sauce, grilled and basted with the rest towards the end. Piri-piri also suits prawns, potatoes and grilled fish.
Heat level
Bird's eye chillies are very hot. For a milder sauce use half the chillies and a whole red pepper, or long red cayenne-type chillies. You can always add heat — you cannot take it away.
The raw version
Raw sauce, only blended, tastes fresher and hotter but keeps a week at most in the fridge. The heated version is milder and longer-lasting.