Frango Piri Piri

Ingredients

• 1 (approx. 1.6 kg) whole chicken, butterflied (spatchcocked)
• For the piri piri marinade
• 100 g African bird's eye chillies, fresh or lacto-fermented in salt brine 5–7 days
• 6 cloves garlic
• 60 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 100 ml olive oil
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano

Method

1. 1
   Butterfly the chicken: place it breast-side down on a board, cut along both sides of the backbone with sturdy scissors and remove it. Open the bird flat, turn it breast-side up, and press firmly on the breastbone until it cracks and lies level. The bird must lie entirely flat — any arch across the breast will produce uneven heat exposure on the charcoal grill.
2. 2
   Combine the chillies, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, sweet paprika, and oregano in a blender and process to a smooth, uniform sauce. Taste for heat — the sauce must carry real, sustained heat from the bird's eye chillies; a mild result indicates insufficient chilli. Reserve half the sauce separately for basting during cooking; use the remainder to coat the chicken on all sides. Refrigerate the marinating chicken for a minimum of 24 hours, and up to 48. Do not marinate at room temperature.
3. 3
   Prepare a charcoal grill to a steady, moderate-high heat with good ember coverage — the coals should glow red beneath a fine white ash with no raw black lumps remaining. Set the grill rack at medium height. This is where the dish lives or dies: charcoal provides the aromatic smoke and sustained radiant heat that continuous basting requires; an oven or gas grill will not build the same layered caramelisation.
4. 4
   Place the chicken skin-side up on the grill and cook, turning every 8–10 minutes. Each time the bird is turned, apply a generous layer of the reserved basting sauce using a brush. Repeat for a minimum of 4–6 basting applications across the total cooking time. The surface should deepen progressively through amber to a mahogany char at the edges — each baste layer must visibly dry and set before the next is applied.
5. 5
   Check for doneness by piercing the thickest part of the thigh at the joint: the juices must run entirely clear with no trace of pink. The internal temperature at the thigh should read 74 °C. The skin across the breast and thigh will be deeply coloured and lacquered, with defined char marks.
6. 6
   Remove the chicken from the grill and rest it for 8–10 minutes before cutting. During this time the final baste sets into a glaze and the juices redistribute through the meat. The surface, when pressed lightly, should feel set and slightly tacky rather than wet.