The Indian subcontinent · Volume 21, The Convent Kitchen, the Temple Kitchen and the Toddy Tapper’s Coast
Cafreal
Catholic Goa, plausibly via Portuguese Mozambique
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 4 hours
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
Green where its Mozambican ancestor is red. Chicken in a raw coriander and green chilli paste, grilled.
As tradition built it
Serves 4. Marinates 2 to 4 hours minimum. Grills 20 to 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, jointed, or 8 thighs, skin on
- large bunch fresh coriander
- 8 to 10 green chillies
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2.5 cm ginger
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 6 black peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbsp toddy vinegar
- to taste salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
Method
- Blend the coriander, green chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin, peppercorns and cloves with the lime juice and vinegar to a smooth, bright green paste.
- Score the chicken pieces and rub the paste and salt in thoroughly, working it under the skin where possible. Marinate 2 to 4 hours minimum, longer if time allows.
- Grill or roast over hot coals, or in a very hot oven, basting with the coconut oil as it cooks, turning regularly, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the paste has charred lightly at the edges.
- Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Consistent technical distinction, reported across several sources: unlike red Mozambican piri-piri chicken, Goan cafreal is unambiguously green, "even in colour," from fresh herbs rather than dried chilli powder.
What a modern chef changes
An even char without drying the meat, using the Big Green Egg's control
Rung 4 (applied to a marinade rather than a stuffing).
Method
- Cook indirect on the Big Green Egg at around 180°C until the chicken reaches temperature, then move directly over the coals for the final few minutes only, separating the cooking-through from the charring so neither compromises the other.
- Reserve a portion of the raw paste, uncooked, to spoon over the chicken at the table, restoring the bright, raw-herb top note the direct heat inevitably dulls.