Portuguese chicken

It's quite easy to make Portuguese chicken at home. It's a simple matter of flattening a whole chicken, marinating it and drizzling it with a spicy piri piri sauce. Serve with a garden salad.

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

8 garlic cloves, crushed

juice of 2 lemons

80 ml (⅓ cup) whisky

1 bay leaf

2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large chicken

jacket potatoes, lettuce wedges, lemon wedges, sliced tomatoes, to serve

Piri piri sauce

80 ml (⅓ cup) olive oil

juice of ½ lemon

2 long red chillies, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Marinating time: 1 hour

Instructions

Combine garlic, lemon juice, whisky, bay leaf, paprika and oil in a shallow dish.

Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut chicken through breastbone. Open out, turn over and flatten by pressing down with heel of hand along backbone. Score chicken skin and flesh. Brush marinade all over chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to marinate.

Meanwhile, combine all piri piri sauce ingredients in a bowl and season with salt.

Preheat a chargrill or charcoal barbecue on high. Cook chicken for 40 minutes, turning and basting frequently with marinade, until golden brown and cooked through. Cut into pieces with kitchen scissors and spoon over piri piri sauce. Serve with potatoes, lettuce, lemon and sliced tomatoes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.