The bird’s diet matters as well. Ideally it should be free range, and also it should be raised on a good diet of cereals and vegetables. The charcoal grill Add the chopped bird’s-eye chillies to the food processor. Pulse to blend the peppers and chillies together coarsely. Alternatively, you can chop them all by hand. It is not only really easy to make but you can adjust it to your taste and it is also really cheap especially if you buy spices in bulk. Spices can be preserved for a long time so perfect to make the spice mix. You can easily store your homemade seasoning for half a year or longer. Just do not store the seasoning in direct sunlight or a warm spot. The name piri piri comes from the variety of chilli used, a cultivar of Capsicum frutescens, which also includes tabasco chillies, probably taken by the Portuguese from their colonies in South America to those in Africa and, from there, to Europe. In Swahili, pili pili apparently means pepper-pepper – prompting the witticism “the chilli so hot they named it twice” – and it lives up to that reputation. The fruit registers 50,000-175,000 Scoville units ( a measurement based on the amount of sugared water necessary to neutralise its fire), qualifying it for the “very hot” category in Kay Plunkett-Hogge’s book Heat, one below pure capsaicin (16m units, and “explosive!”).

These peri peri chips really benefit from a more complex seasoning than conventional chip spice/salt. They’re just so much more special and we really enjoy that touch of heat.

Montanhiera salad

You can also buy piri-piri sauce from your local Portuguese supermarket, if you’re cooking at home and are in a rush. Traditionally, this is a cheap and simple bottle of piri-piri sauce, but more and more companies are now offering more luxurious and artisan recipes that include other herbs and spices, as well as fruits and other ingredients.

This will impact the color and flavor of the seasoning as it will turn hard in the sun. Keep it in a dark and dry place like your kitchen cabinet or kitchen pantry. Cool and roughly chop the chillies. Place the chillies, garlic, salt, oregano, paprika, olive oil and vinegar in a saucepan, and simmer for 2–3 minutes.

This is a spicy, rather than a herby dish. My testers don’t think the oregano used by Henry, Phipps, Stein and Kiros adds that much once the heat is ramped up, and the same goes for Kiros’s bay leaf. Both would get lost in my fiery sauce, but may prove more welcome in milder versions.

You can use any red chillies (red chilies in non British spelling) to make piri piri sauce, whether birds eye or otherwise. It will make no difference to the final flavour of your hot sauce. But you can control the final heat level with the type of chillies you use. So go for a hot chilli type or a mild one.

More Spices and Sauces

Place the red peppers and red chillies on a heavy baking tray, then carefully char them all over using a blowtorch if you have one, or the flame on a gas hob. Alternatively, place them under a very hot grill. Transfer the charred peppers and chillies to a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave for 10 minutes so they steam while cooling, softening the skins.

You can also keep it in your pantry or spice drawer and bring it out to use as needed. What can I eat this recipe with?Make fully loaded dirty peri peri fries. Fry or roast some onions, tomatoes and sweet pepper and mix into the seasoned fries. Top with aioli/garlic mayo and peri peri sauce for a perfect peri peri feast! This, by far, is the most popular way of using piri piri sauce. Look out for recipes using our homemade hot sauce over the coming weeks. But essentially, you’d use it as a marinade, then grill, roast or barbecue whatever you’re cooking.