Margarita's International Recipes

Mozambique

Frango a la Zambeziana Chicken Zambeziana with Coconut Rice Chicken Zambeziana is a dish of grilled chicken marinated in a lemon-coconut sauce and served with coconut rice. It's a specialty of the Mozambican region of Zambezia, but has become popular in the whole country. You can adjust the level of spiciness of this dish by choosing how many seeds you include with your minced pepper - I like mild, so I eliminated most of them. I had been hesitant with making this dish because I'd never been able to grill chicken without causing a massive fire and getting the chicken burned, before. I discovered that the secret to cooking chicken in gas grill is indirect heat - not allowing any fire under the chicken. That way there is no flame to erupt when the fat inevitably falls off. I was quite happy with the results, not only of the method but of the recipe. The skin of the chicken was absolutely delicious - the sort of thing you could serve in a Michelin star restaurant. The surface was also pretty good, the marinade has a very nice balance of mellowness to acidity. The problem is that it doesn't quite penetrate the chicken flesh. If I make it again, I might try to marinade it overnight in the fridge to see if that helps. The rice is tasty but, IMHO, it needs salt, so I'm adding it as an ingredient below. PRINT PDF Chicken Zambeziana with Coconut Rice Ingredients For the chicken 4 -5 lbs chicken parts 1 cup lemon juice 1 cup coconut milk 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 tsp crushed garlic 1 tsp minced fresh or dried piri piri or Thai peppers 2 tsp salt For the rice 1 cup white rice 1 cup coconut milk salt to taste Directions For the chicken Place the chicken parts in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, coconut milk, olive oil, garlic, chilies and salt and mix well. Cover and marinade at room temperature for 2 hours*, turning and basting every 30 minutes. If you are making it in advance, refrigerate and remove two hours before grilling. Meanwhile, set your BBQ grill for indirect heating and oil your grates. Preheat the BBQ grill, covered, up to 450-500°F. Add the chicken to one side of the grill, preserving the marinade. Turn off burners under the chicken. Cover and grill for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer the marinade to a small saucepan. Heat on low and simmer until it thickens. Turn the chicken parts and baste with the thickened marinade. Cook for another 15 minutes, and continue cooking and basting until the chicken is cooked through and clear juices run when you poke it, about 45' to 1 hour, depending on the temperature of your grill. Once the chicken is cooked through, baste one last time and turn the burners under chicken on to high, while turning off the others. Grill until browned, turn and repeat. For the rice Rinse the rice. Add the rice, coconut milk and 1/2 a cup of water to a pot or ice maker. Bring to a boil, then reduce the temperature and simmer, covered, until the rice is cooked through, 20 to 40 minutes depending on your type of rice. Fluff with a fork and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve with the chicken/ * Chicken can safely stay at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Adapted from a recipe at African Food Feasts Do you have a comment on this recipe? Please make it here Mozambican Recipes | Marga's International Recipes | Marga's Best Recipes | Marga's Food Blog | E-mail