Chilli Chicken Wings

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Chicken wings marry up perfectly with chilli, a barbecue, friends and a cold beer. This is a recipe for the summer days approaching in the northern hemisphere, and those lunchtime barbies that go on all winter here in Oz.

You must marinate the wings for at least 8 hours to make this dish really work and the best way to do that is to leave them in the fridge overnight. Take them out about half an hour before you intend to cook them, to give them time to return to room temperature. You'll get less undercooked meat that way.

The simple ingredients for 4 people are:

• 16 chicken wings
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1tbs cumin
• 1tbs smoked paprika (use sweet if you can't get smoked)
• 1tbs turmeric
• 1tbs crushed coriander (cilantro) seeds*
• zest and juice of one lime
• 2 whole chillis, sliced
• 2 tsps curry powder
• 150mls oil

* If you don't have a pestle and mortar, crush the seeds using a small bowl and the butt end of a rolling pin or something similar. You can use ready-ground seeds, but it's not quite the same.

To help with the marinating process, and to ensure even cooking, make a couple of deep slits in the thickest part of each wing. Then mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, add the wings making sure they are coated with the mix, cover and refrigerate overnight. It's a good idea to turn the wings from time to time, but I wouldn't bother getting out of bed to do it.

I find the best way to cook these wings is to start them off on an open barbie, giving them about three minutes on each side. Then close the lid and leave them cook through for about 10 minutes. Test for doneness by opening one of the slits you made. It should move easily away from the bone with no pink showing.

Serve with salad and something very cold to drink. Beer makes the best wine.

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