Perfect Piri Piri

Thanks to a certain chicken restaurant "piri piri" has become a household name in the UK. Now don't get me wrong, there's definitely a time and a place for Nando's, but what they serve couldn't be further from the traditional portuguese flavouring.

I'm really lucky that my uncle is portuguese and that my family have a house in Portugal so I visit the country three or four times a year. I must have tasted hundreds of chicken piri piri dishes in my life and I consider myself a bit of an expert. Having spoken to a number of chefs out there, I think I've come up with the not only the real deal, but the best piri piri recipe in the world!

The ultimate test was to give it to my uncle to try and I'm pleased to report that the results were brilliant - he said the flavour was as authentic as it gets!

This piri piri oil can be used as a marinade, a salad dressing, a sauce, a dip or even as your cooking oil. A batch lasts for months but be warned: it's highly addictive!

Perfect Piri Piri


4 long red chillies, roughly chopped 
8 small dried red chillies (or 8 tsp chilli flakes)
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 
2 tbsp whisky or licor beirao (portuguese liqueur) or vodka 
1 tbsp sherry vinegar 
1 tbsp lemon juice 
1 bay leaf 
250 ml olive oil
sea salt

Using a food processor, blitz the chillies and garlic to a paste. Place in a small pan over high heat and stir in your chosen alcohol, the sherry vinegar, lemon juice, bay leaf, 125 ml of the oil and 1 tsp salt. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and whisk in remaining 125ml of oil. Decant into a sterilised bottle and store in a cool dry place (do not refrigerate!).