Nando’s released a step-by-step guide to their famous PERi-PERi chicken thighs, spicy rice and macho peas during an Instagram live rife with technical issues.
Hosted by Nando’s head of food Tim Molema, live from his kitchen, with singer Jgrrey following his instructions, the live stream promised a fun hour of cooking the marinated thighs and rice, but turned out to be less smooth than anticipated.
The singer’s poor Wifi connection kept cutting, much to the exasperation of the 1,400 viewers who had initially tuned in to learn the secret of the recipe.
It was Nando’s first attempt at an Instagram cook-along as part of a six-episode series of Instagram lives, where its chefs will be revealing the secrets of its most famous dish every Thursday.
Nando’s released a step by step guide to its beloved PERi-PERi chicken thighs, macho peas and spicy rice during an Instagram Live ‘cook-along’ but were plagued by a series of Internet glitches. The live was hosted by Nando’s Head of Food Tim Molema, who was dispensing instructions, however, it was up to a rocky start when guest-star Jgrrey’s WIFI connection kept being faulty (pictured: Tim and Jgrrey during the live)
The beloved restaurant released the list of ingredients ahead of the live, and Tim took it from there, guiding Jgrrey and the followers that had tuned in through each step of the recipe.
Tonight, in order to cook their famous PERi-PERi- chicken thighs, spicy rice and macho peas, Tim advised to have the boneless chicken thighs marinated overnight in the Nando’s sauce of your choosing to give it their unmistakable taste.
When starting to work on the recipe, he said to start by pre-heating the oven at 180-190 degrees, before focusing on the rice.
He said to pour 200g of rice in a pan, as well as half of a white onion, peeled and finely chopped, and to add one tablespoon of sunflower oil, while on medium heat, as well as a tablespoon of salt, for the texture.
Tim and Jgrrey were cooking the restaurant’s famous PERi-PERi chicken thighs, which are marinated in one of their sauces (pictured)
Tim also revealed how to make Nando’s spicy rice (pictured), which involves a green chilli, ground tumeric, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika
He said said to thinly dice half a green pepper and to pour it into the pan, as well as a small green chilli, or more, if you like it spicy.
Tim then added half a can of chopped tomatoes to the mix, before giving the mixture a quick stir, adding 450ml of water, and cranking up the heat, putting the lid on the pan to bring it to a boil.
While the rice boiled, he put the thighs into the oven, saying they should just be lightly cooked, as they would be grilled later.
Tim (pictured) who was trying to go through the recipe, struggles with the Instagram Live, having to reset it on occasion
Eventually, at the end of the hour-long live, Tim (pictured) was able to showcase his plate of marinated chicken with peas and rice
In spite of her technical issues, Jgrrey (pictured) managed to cook a mouth-watering plate of chicken for herself
Some of the followers could not help but pick on the fact that the IGTV live had suffered a few issues
Bringing the heat down back to a medium on the rice, he added half a teaspoon of three spices: ground tumeric, cayenne pepper and tsp smoked paprika.
For the boneless chicken thighs, once they were fully cooked in the oven, he took them out, and instructed to grill them on a pan in order to obtain that beloved Nando’s crisp.
For the mushy peas, he started by boiling the peas, and once fully cooked, emptied the water and only kept the peas in the pan.
He mixed them with one tablespoon of olive oil, one table spoon of butter to create a creamy texture.
To add herbs and spices, he finely chopped three or four sprigs of fresh parsley, two or three sprigs of fresh mint for the flavour.
He then added half a teaspoon of salt, and spiced things up by pouring two pinches of died red chilli flakes.
In spite of the live’s repeated technically issues, followers said the chicken, peas and rice looked delicious at the end of the hour-long cooking session.
Nando’s mix their peas with fresh parsley sprigs and fresh mint, as well as olive oil and butter to give it their famous creamy consistency (pictured: Nando’s macho peas)