Chicken Wings Braai (Serves about 12 approx)

Here is a great chicken wing recipe that make a good starter snack.

Some caution though: this is a hot and spicy meal. We make the chicken super spicy and serve it with a sauce that both complements and cools down that spiciness. So the spice and the sauce are both essential to the meal; you can’t have one without the other. If you don’t like a bit of burn, rather leave out the cayenne pepper or add a bit less. You can also use greek yogurt if you dont have sour cream on hand. And to replace the buttermilk, use 1 cup of fresh milk with a tot of lemon juice.

Ingredients :
36 chicken wings

FOR THE SAUCE
2 cups buttermilk or use 2 cups milk and 2 tsp lemon juice

1 cup sour cream or use 1 cup full cream yogurt

1/2 cup chives (freshly chopped) can be replaced with spring onions or leeks

1 tot Dijon mustard

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

 

FOR THE SPICE RUB
1 tsp dry garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper

 

Method:
1. Shake and pour buttermilk into a bowl and mix in all the other sauce ingredients. Mix well, cover the bowl and put it in your fridge.

2. Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a glass jar and shake well.

3. Braai the chicken wings for about 20 minutes over medium-hot coals, turning often until cooked through. Do not add any spice or sauce to the chicken wings before the braai. Just braai them as is. The spice mixture of this meal turns brown and looks burnt very quickly so we can’t have it on the chicken the whole time it is braaing otherwise it will burn way before the chicken is cooked.

4. Take the chicken off the grid and place in a braai bowl. Dust the chicken wings generously with half the spice mixture, making sure everything is properly covered. Please note, you need to use only half of the spice mixture to accomplish this so keep the other half of the mix for next time. Use a wooden spoon to toss the wings around and make sure there is spice in all the corners and crevices of all the chicken wings.

5. Once done, get the wings back onto the grid and braai them for a few more minutes until the spice gets a nice colour on both sides. Although the spices will not actually burn, be vigilant as they will very easily get the appearance of having been burnt. Don’t overbraai: remember, the meat is already cooked through; we just want to toast the spices at this point. As soon as the spices are all toasted and looking good on the chicken, proceed to the next step.

6. Move the chicken wings from the grid onto a platter and drizzle  the dressing over them. You might prefer to also have extra sauce on the side so that guests may help themselves to some additional deliciousness