Peri peri, also known as piri piri or peli peli is a popular seasoning from Southern Africa, originally invented by the Portuguese settlers in Mozambique. Africa's Bird's Eye Chili, as it is called, is also known as its most famous seasoning. Peel the cucumber, slice in half lengthways, remove the inside with a spoon and dice into 1cm cubes.

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. Piri piri sauce also makes a great condiment. It goes very well with any grilled or fried food, especially seafood. Use it as a dip and you know me, spike mayonnaise with it.Label your pili pili seasoning blend container with the date and name to help you easily identify it. Pre-heat your oven to 240 °C. Meanwhile, add the piri-piri sauce ingredients to a food processor, blend everything for a couple of minutes. It should look like a smooth paste but not super liquid.

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. Peri peri seasoning takes less than five minutes to whip up. It is so hassle-free, anyone could do it! 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. Instead of putting all the spices you can put them in a blender and pulse a couple of times to combine the spice mix.

Tandoori Masala Spice Mix: You’ll find so many uses for this blend, from morning eggs to a fresh green salad. The following are just a few places to try frango piri-piri in Portugal. You’ll also find it on most menus in the Algarve(sometimes calledfrango piri-piri, frango assado com piri-piri, frango no churrasco, or frango na brasa) but, to really experience proper piri-piri, it’s worth going to a restaurant that specialises in it. Ground Piri-Piri pepper – to add heat to the seasoning you can also add malagueta pepper or cayenne pepper instead

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? You can find all the ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Optional step: pour into a frying pan and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. This deepens the flavour slightly and makes our piri piri sauce perfect to be served as a condiment. 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!”).Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6, and preheat a large griddle pan on the hob. Alternatively, light your barbecue.