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Piri Piri Spiced Chicken Drumsticks

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It’s the long weekend, so of course we’ve been barbecuing.

This time around, my husband challenged me to find an award-winning recipe for a spicy, fragrant piri piri spice mix to coat our Maple Leaf Prime Naturally Chicken Drumsticks. Well, it turns out it wasn’t such a challenge – a quick Google search produced only a few spice mix recipes, so the field to choose from was quite narrow. Let’s just pretend this one’s award-winning, shall we?

Piri Piri Spice MixThanks to the good folks at Foodmania, I loosely followed the instructions for their Piri Piri mix. Now if you didn’t know, Piri Piri (a Swahili word that means “pepper pepper”) is one of the hottest flavour trends! Reminiscent of the famous sauce from Portugal, its rich and unique blend of warm earthy spices, herbs and vegetables brings a spicy, tangy character to chicken and fish dishes. Here’s what you’ll need:

16 Maple Leaf Prime Naturally Chicken Drumsticks
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamon
½ teaspoon powdered sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil

You can (and should) taper the cayenne pepper to suit your taste. Also, if you can find packaged dried lemon peel (I’ve only found it in the US), or you have some homemade dried lemon peel on hand, you should absolutely add 1/2 teaspoon to the spice mix. Otherwise, simply hit your cooked Piri Piri chicken with a generous splash of fresh lemon juice before serving.

Mix all the spice mix ingredients together in a medium bowl. This recipes yields about 1/4 cup, so, remove one heaping tablespoon and store the rest in an air-tight container. If you love the mix, next time, double the spices and store in the fridge for up to two months.

In a large zipper-style bag, add drumsticks, olive oil and spice mix. Close, and toss to coat. Adjust amount of seasoning depending on how intense you’d like the flavour to be. Refrigerate for up to 12 hours, but no less than two.

Barbecue over medium, indirect heat for approximately 30-35 minutes, turning frequently. Enjoy!

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Comments

  1. I know piri piri well I even use it when i make homemade baked fries. yummy recipe!

  2. I had never heard of this before….definitely going to be trying it out on some chicken this week!

    • Please do Judy! You can also cheat and buy the Club House or PC Piri Piri (or Peri Peri) spice – they’re both very good and super easy!

  3. Looks delicious! I love spice mixes that are made from scratch – they have so much more flavour. Can’t wait to try this one and thanks for the recipe Lena!

  7. That sounds and looks delicious. I would definitely be one of the ones to tone down the cayenne and the chili flakes though ;)

  10. Yum! We eat a lot of chicken in my house, so I’m always looking for new recipes! This looks & sounds delicious!

  12. Yum,! Def gonna try this!! WE’ve been in a funk for chicken lately, this will def spice things up! LOL

  14. Mmmm, this sounds yummy! I like all the spices in the ingredients. I remember buying the PC brand Piri Piri spice blend ( I wonder if it expired).

    • I used to use the PC brand too but I find it loses flavour way too quickly, even in an airtight container!

  18. Oh this makes my hungry..looks absolutely amazing. I’m going to give it a try as chicken is just so versatile and this is different for us! Thanks beautiful!

  19. I booked marked the recipe. I will try this when I have drumsticks again. Thank you for posting.

  22. That spice mix sounds delicious! I love piri piri chicken and am so excited about this recipe! Thanks for sharing!

  24. Tried your recipe on the weekend and it was a big crowd pleaser! Thanks for sharing it!!

  31. wow look to die for , never tried piri piri chicken before but sounds delish a must try , thanks for sharing :)

  35. Thanks for the recipe. Having some friends over on Saturday; it’s still warm enough to BBQ. Think this would turn out awesome.

  39. I’ve never heard of Piri Piri before but I love the ingredients you used and it looks delicious