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?
Thanks 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!