The flavours of Africa in a nutshell are exciting, bold, mostly spicy, and mind-blowing. Peri Peri sauce is something I grew up enjoying on mostly grilled chicken. The main ingredient to a peri-peri sauce is the African bird’s eye chilies you would find it fresh in markets and stores all over in Zimbabwe however here in Canada I find the dried ones in special spice stores. I highly recommend looking for them for perfect peri sauce flavour. I really hope that you can try this peri peri sauce recipe and sample the flavours I grew up on - the simple flavours of Africa.
Yield: 1 Jar of Peri Sauce
Ingredients
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1 tsp fresh thyme
lemon juice from one lemon
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 chopped shallots
2 large seeded and chopped red bell peppers
10 Dried African Bird's eye chilies (you can use fewer or no chilies if you prefer the sauce to be less spicy)
2 jalapenos (normally the jalapenos are not used in this recipe but I use them for more freshness since I'm using dried birds eye chilies instead of the fresh ones)
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp smoked paprika
½ tsp white pepper powder
1 tsp salt - Only add the salt when the sauce is almost done cooking. Because the sauce reduces and you need to make sure the sauce doesn't get too salty
¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
Add all the ingredients in a blender
Blend to make a smooth puree.
Heat up the oil in a non stick pan
Add the blended ingredients and cook for 20 minutes on medium-low heat. Keep stirring at regular intervals to avoid the sauce from sticking to the pan and getting burned at the bottom. When the sauce is cooked the oil should sit above the sauce. Remove the pan from heat and let the sauce cool down. Peri-Peri Sauce is ready.
Store it in a glass jar and use as required.
Notes Fell free to use crushed red peppers if you are having a hard time finding the dried African bird’s eye chilies. I found mine at the spice store in our farmers market. Reduce the amount of chilies if you like milder sauce and increase if you like it hot. The best is to go with less number of chilies first and then taste the sauce. You can also marinate your meat with the sauce as well.