Food
How to make: Frango Picante
As we cross our fingers for the continuation of the recent sunshine and warm weather, we’re sharing a new recipe from our Executive Chef, Fran Martinez. Perfect for your next barbecue, these spicy yoghurt marinated chicken thighs (frango picante) are full of flavour, bringing a kick for those chilli lovers.
Preparation is always key when it comes to making a marinade. With this one, we recommend that you prepare the marinade the day before and leave the chicken to rest in the fridge overnight. You can however, make it on the day and keep the marinated chicken in the freezer for at least an hour before cooking.
We’re serving our chicken thighs with charred pickled onion petals from a previous recipe, some chopped chilli, mint and some yoghurt for dipping. Now onto the important part…
Ingredients
8 boneless chicken thighs
240g natural yoghurt
30g Malagueta chilli sauce (you can use an alternative if you don’t have this)
5g salt
3g smoked paprika
2g turmeric
2g cumin
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
20g parsley (chopped)
2g black pepper
1 lemon
Put all of the ingredients apart from the chicken into a sizeable bowl and mix with your hands. Once the ingredients are well mixed, add in the chicken and ensure the thighs are well covered in the marinade. Pop the bowl into the fridge.
If you are cooking the chicken on a barbecue, place the chicken first on indirect heat, so the chicken cooks all the way through, at the end place over direct heat to crisp the outside and get the colour that you can see in our photo. Do not worry because the chicken is perfectly cooked inside, it is only the marinade that is getting a little burnt creating a crust on the outside that will bring very special flavours.
If you are trying this recipe at home in the oven, just follow the same steps. Place the thighs and all the marinade on a roasting tray, and cook first at medium heat around 160/180 degrees for about 20-25 minutes and finish under the grill for the last 5-7 minutes.
Serve with some lemon wedges and squeeze them just before having the chicken. This recipe is quite spicy so feel free to adjust the amount of chili sauce if you prefer them a bit milder.
Enjoy!
Fran Martinez