Category: Sauces, Dressings & Marinades

Piri Piri Sauce (aka Massa pimentao)

In Portugal, in every bar and restaurant you can get piri piri chicken, cooked on an open BBQ. It’s fantastic! On holiday I looked round for a Portugese recipe book to find out how to make piri piri. I found one, and it’s the coolest ingredient list ever:

Take:

1kg of red chilis (pimento traditionally, but a a mix of heats is nice)
1 cup of salt
1 clove of garlic

Rough chop the chillis into discs (keep the seeds in) and put the chillis into a stoneware pot. I suggest you wear some rubber gloves for this bit, because after chopping 1kg, you’re going to have chilli on your hands for a long time.

Mix the cup of salt into the chopped chillis. Put the lid on the pot, and leave it for 10-14 days. Every day take the lid off, stir the chillis and put the lid back. The chillis will go soft and shrivvled, and semi-disolved salt and juice will collect in the jug. The smell is immense!

After the 10 to 14 days take the contents of the pot and blend it to a fine paste, along with the clove of garlic.

Put the paste into jars, and cover with a layer of olive oil to store.When you want to use some of the sauce, take out a couple of spoons full, and make sure it’s covered with oil.

‘Smoke Bomb’ Chilli Sauce

This is a really nice smokey hot sauce, that’s good in stir-fries, in wraps or splashed round nachos for a little fiery hit! The smell is fantastic- it can catch your throat if you stir-fry with it though.

6 dried, smoked cipottle chillis,
6 dried habinaros chillis (the reaaallly hot one), use a lesser chilli for a milder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
cider or white wine vinegar to mix to the consistency you want.

You can make this into either a runny sauce, like tabasco, or something more ketchup like. the amount of vinegar you add will determine this.

To make it, allow the chillis to soak in some vinegar for a couple of days. Once ready, blitz all the ingredients together, and store in a clean glass jar.

Simples! Except watch out for contamination. Habinaros are very hot, and it’s difficult to wash off the heat from your hands- be warned contact lens wearers.