The Peri Peri Chile:
This is the most popular hot chile in Africa and India. It is also known as the African Bird’s Eye chile. It has a bit of a fruity flavor with a little heat. This chile is used in making many sauces.
The African Bird’s Eye Chile has its origin in Africa, but it is also grown in India where it is called the “Birds Eye” or “Peri Peri” chile.
The African Bird’s Eye Chile plant grows to about 24-36″ tall and has small pods approximately 3/4″ long by 3/8″ wide.
The African Bird’s Eye chile pods start out green and mature to red.
The Peri Peri Chile is a type of chili pepper that was brought to South Africa by the Portuguese who were looking for slaves and spices. They found the Peri Peri Chile at the mouth of the Congo River.
This chile is related to the infamous African Birdseye and it’s similar in flavor though not nearly as hot. The Peri Peri Chile is one of the hottest peppers in Africa, with a rating of 100,000 to 175,000 Scoville Units.
The word “Peri” means “pepper” in Swahili and “Peri Peri” means “pepper pepper.” In Zimbabwe, this pepper is known as Piripiri or Pili Pili.
There are many varieties of the Peri Peri Chile, and they can vary widely in their heat. The peri peri chile is an African type of bird’s eye chile. Bird’s eye chiles are small, thin chiles that tend to be very hot. They are also known as Thai chiles.
The mildest peri peris measure 2,500 to 8,000 SHU on the Scoville scale. The hottest measures 350,000 SHU! Compare this to a jalapeno at 3,500 – 10,000 SHU or a habanero at 100,000 – 300,000 SHU.
The spiciest of the peri peris are grown in Malawi and are called “Congo.” The mildest are grown in Mozambique and are called “Girassol.”
The Peri-Peri Chile is a significant cultural phenomenon in the Southern African region. The name peri peri is taken from the Swahili language and means pepper pepper. The chile was brought to Africa by Portuguese explorers who, it is believed, originally got the chile from Brazil.
The Portuguese introduced the chile to Mozambique and Angola, and it’s been used for centuries for both cooking and medicine. In most Southern African countries, however, it didn’t really become popular until recently, when the desire for hot sauces grew and peri peri became an increasingly popular condiment. Nowadays you can order chicken basted with peri peri in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique at restaurants that serve chicken much like Nando’s and other fast food outlets.
The chile is not common in most of the world, but it’s available in many places online. It’s also grown in California, where it’s sometimes called the African Devil Chile because of its extreme heat. In addition to being extremely hot, the chile has a distinctive flavor that makes it suitable for many uses. If you’re considering growing your own peppers for cooking or medicinal purposes, or if you simply want to experiment with new flavors in your kitchen,
Peri Peri Masala or Piri Piri is a South African spice mix, which is usually made using the African Bird’s Eye, also known as Peri Peri Chile. It was brought to Africa by Portuguese explorers who were looking for a sea route to India.
Peri peri masala has many uses and can be used in almost any dish where you would like to add heat and flavor. However, it is most commonly used for making Peri Peri chicken (also known as “Piri Piri” chicken), from where it gets its name.
This spicy chicken recipe is very popular in South Africa, Portugal and other parts of the world. In Portugal, you will find that there are several restaurants which specialize in serving peri peri chicken.
It is one of those dishes that is so simple yet so delicious that you could have it every day and not get bored with it. And it’s so easy to make that even novice cooks should be able to make it with ease.
The only problem with this recipe is that I found it hard to stop eating!
Peri-Peri or “Pili Pili” is Swahili for ‘Pepper Pepper’ and is a hot pepper that grows in South America. The Portuguese, who ruled Mozambique for many years, brought the Peri-Peri Chile to Africa where it was used in sauces and marinades by the natives. It is often confused with the Malagueta Chile, which is similar in heat but different in flavor. It is also similar to the African bird’s eye chile.
The Peri-Peri Chile is small, about 1/2 inch long, and tapered. It has a wrinkled skin and a conical shape. The fruit walls are thin and have a pungent flesh that ripens from green to red when mature. It ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville units–equivalent to most other cayenne chiles in heat.
In 1486, the Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Diaz rounded the southern tip of Africa and charted the course to India. The discovery of this “Cape Route” sparked a frenzy of spice trading. The Portuguese were soon followed by Spain and Holland.
In 1501, the Portuguese took over the city-state of Goa, on the coast of western India, which became their chief trading post in Asia. They brought with them peri peri (also spelled piri piri), African birds eye chiles discovered along the Cape Route. They also brought sugar cane and citrus fruit from their African settlements.
The first recorded use of peri peri in curries dates back to 16th century Goa, where cooks added local tamarind fruit to balance out the heat of these fiery chiles. This tart-spicy hot sauce was then introduced to other parts of Asia by Portuguese traders and explorers, and its influence can be seen in many cuisines today, including those of Thailand (nam phrik), Vietnam (tuong ot), Malaysia (sambal), Indonesia (sambal oelek) and China (Zhongla).
