This is a must for BBQ lovers. You may never cook chicken any other way again.

South African BBQ Chicken

INGREDIENTS: 

• 2 red chillies
• tops removed and reserved for the smoke mix (see below)
• 8 spring onions
• roughly chopped
• thumb-sized piece of ginger
• peeled and roughly chopped
• 8 garlic cloves
• roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp paprika
• 3 tbsp dark brown soft sugar
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 limes
• 2 juiced, plus 2 halved to serve
• 1.5kg mix of chicken, drumsticks and wings, lightly scored
• 200ml ketchup

For the smoke mix (optional)

• handful of thyme sprigs
• handful of bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• reserved chilli tops

METHOD:

1. To prepare the meat, tip all the ingredients, except for the chicken and ketchup, into a blender or mini processor. Add a pinch of salt and blitz to a rough paste. Tip two-thirds of the paste into a large bowl with the chicken, and massage the marinade into the meat. Cover and leave for at least 1 hr at room temperature, or up to 48 hrs in the fridge.
2. Meanwhile, make the barbecue sauce. Tip the remaining paste into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 mins until it thickens and becomes darker, then add the ketchup and cook for 5 mins until sticky. Tip into a container and set aside.
3. Light the barbecue, ensuring the coals are piled up at one end and leaving only a couple of coals on the other side. Lay the chicken on the emptier side. If you’re making the smoke mix, carefully scatter all of the ingredients directly onto the piled-up coals. Cover the barbecue (with the vents open) and cook the chicken for 20 mins. Remove the lid and turn the chicken, then cover again and cook for a further 20 mins.
4. Remove the lid and move the chicken across the grill so it’s above the piled-up coals, then baste with some of the barbecue sauce, keeping enough aside, in a separate container, to serve later. Cook for 10 mins, adding a few more coals if you need to and turning often, until nicely charred and cooked through – a digital thermometer inserted through the thickest part of the meat should read at least 65C.
5. Put the lime halves on the grill, over the coals, cut-side down for 3-4 mins until charred. Serve the chicken with the lime for squeezing over and reserved barbecue sauce for dipping.