Spicy + Sticky Tamarind BBQ Wings

By Alex Hill – February 08, 2022

Brunch on Sunday is a weekly ritual. We gather with family and friends to wine down, reconnect, laugh, and always eat really good food. Check out some delish food pairings from our girl Alex Hill [@justaddhotsauce] and our wine cocktail recipes featuring McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Wines + Grand Marnier. Get ready to level up your wine and food game!

Ingredients

1 lb chicken wings (seasoned to your liking)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
½ cup tamarind concentrate or tamarind pulp (note below)
¼ cup dark brown sugar (or more)
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced or grated
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
a couple of dashes of hot sauce (prob ½ teaspoon)
1/4 cup or more of apple cider vinegar (depending how tangy you want, you may want to add more)
salt & pepper to taste
1 habanero or scotch bonnet pepper

Directions

*Note: if you have a tamarind pulp which is my fave to use, scoop out about ½ cup worth of the pulp and add about a cup of water in a pan. Place the pulp in the pan and turn the heat on medium high heat. Let the pulp dissolve into the water. What will be left is the seeds and pulp. With a fine mesh sifter, pour the tamarind syrup into a measuring cup and boom you have tamarind concentrate!

*Note: I fried these in my air fryer and I was not a believer in the air fryer but this thing is a must have! It’s quick, no fuss, just stick them in and let it do its thing for 30 minutes (after 15 I flip them over). If you don’t have one, you can either fry these in small batches of vegetable oil for about 10 minutes or bake them in the oven on 375 for about 35-40 minutes. Turn them over to crisp after 15-20 minutes.

CLEAN YOUR CHICKEN! Rinse with water and I clean mine with white vinegar then rinse again. Season the chicken to your liking. I generously used salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder & garlic powder. I like to at least let the chicken marinade for 2 hours.
In a saucepan on medium heat add everything in there except the apple cider vinegar, habanero pepper and wait to season with salt and pepper.
Bring your sauce to a gentle simmer for about 20 minutes. Once it starts to simmer add the habanero pepper and season with salt & pepper. The sauce will start to thicken up and reduce. If you can coat the back of the spoon your sauce is at its desired thickness.
Add the apple cider vinegar. I would say adjust the tangy-ness to your palette. I love a tangy bbq sauce so I always go heavy on the ACV but if you like a rich sweet bbq sauce use less then ¼ cup ACV.
Let the ACV incorporate for another 5-8 minutes then taste your sauce again for desired seasoning.
Fry your chicken according to the note above and pour the sauce all over the piping hot chicken in a bowl and ENJOY!