Crispy Fried Chicken

I know I said that I would be sharing recipes for Roasts and sides in the weeks to come. I did however forget to mention that the sides would not just be dips and salads/breads but also meaty (protein - veg/non-veg) starters/bites. After all you need to prepare a complete meal for the upcoming #Thanksgiving, #Christmas and #New Year celebrations. So the Crispy Fried Chicken did resonate out of Mummy's recipe of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) - the recipe of which I will share another day (will not specify when ;) )

This is an all too easy recipe to create. I did mention in one of my recent posts of my little one's love for Chicken Drumsticks. Well this was to please my princess. I served this Chicken starter with the Coleslaw - the KFC way and some dips as well. Yes and this is one of those long overdue recipes that has been sitting on the back burner as well.

My little one raved about the crispiness of the chicken and to top it was all drumsticks. She loved it to the very last bite.

You need: 

• 7-8 chicken drumsticks, cleaned
• 3-4 cups of breadcrumbs
• 2 large eggs, whisked
• Salt to taste
• Ginger and Garlic powder (optional)
• 1 chicken stock cube (optional)
• Oil - for frying battered chicken

Ammo required:

• A large wok
• A large flat plate with breadcrumbs
• A perforated ladle
• A perforated vessel lined with kitchen towel/tissues
• A large bowl to whisk eggs and dip the chicken drumsticks

The Make
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes | Cook time: 20-30 minutes | Serves 4-6 adults

1.  The first step in the process of making the Crispy Fried Chicken is to lay out all the required vessels and ingredients. If using the ginger and garlic powder and the stock cube, make sure to powder the stock cube and add it along with the ginger and garlic powder to the breadcrumbs. Alternatively you can also add it with the egg but sometimes all of the egg does not get used.
2. In a large wok, heat the oil on medium-low heat. Meanwhile, roll the drumsticks in the whisked eggs draining off the excess back in the bowl and roll it evenly over the flat plate with the breadcrumbs already spread out.
3. Once the oil heats up, gently slide in the prepared drumsticks and line up without any overlapping or interaction between each drumsticks. After 2-3 minutes, using the perforated ladle, turn over the drumsticks and repeat after another 2-3 minutes. Ensure that the batter does not burn and if the oil gets too hot between batches, lower the heat and repeat. Each batch to follow would take lesser time to fry. The first batch may take up to 8-10 minutes depending on the size of your wok and weight of the drumsticks. Transfer the fried chicken to the perforated vessel to drain off the excess oil.
4. Once the batches of the chicken drumsticks are fried and drained off the oil, serve hot with your favourite sides. In my case, it was the coleslaw, hot chili sauce for me and hubby and tomato ketchup for the little princess. The tartar sauce was for the calamari -the recipe of which will follow soon enough.

Hope you and your little one(s) enjoy this make as well.

Spicy, Tangy and Crispy Roasted Chicken

The last two weeks were super busy what with Easter, my little one's school annual day and my falling ill right after my little one fell ill. I actually had a very special recipe to share with you for Easter. I had failed to share it for Christmas 2014 (when it was actually made) or New Year 2015. I guess I just may share it before the next festive occasion. I also have a huge number of recipe creations archived and waiting to be shared with you. And yes my #vegetarian friends, I still have the whole heaps of recipes as promised to share with you that I tried over the 50 days of #Lent.  I thought of sharing this one first after the #Lent break. Trust you all have had a wonderful Easter celebration. School's out now so I hope I do get as much time with the blog as I had imagined!

I have no idea how time flies but it sure does! This recipe is inspired from one of my Mum's recipes of Crispy chicken (I will share the original recipe soon *fingers crossed*). I had started preparing the chicken quite late so you see there was a pinching into the chicken from the little one who could not resist to wait till I finished clicking pictures. Your home does get quite aromatic from this roast. 

To make this simple roast, 

You need:

• 1 kg full chicken, skin-on (cleaned well)
• 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt (curds)
• 1 tbsp smoked Paprika powder
• 1 tbsp of Cheddar Cheese powder
• 1 tbsp of Garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of Ginger powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tomato, chopped and ground to a pulp
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• Breadcrumbs
• 1 cup of wheat flour
• Oil for greasing

The Make:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: Up to 1 hour, 15 minutes| Serves 3-4 adults

Although I made a full roasted chicken, you could choose to cut the chicken in to large or medium pieces thereby reducing the cook time to 45 minutes to 1 hour.

1. Leave the cleaned chicken in a colander to drain off any excess water. Then pat dry with a kitchen towel.

2. Add all the ingredients except the breadcrumbs in a large, wide bowl (large enough to hold the whole chicken) and whisk to a batter.

3. Next carefully, bathe the chicken in the batter. Make sure to cover all the crevices of the chicken and the inner cavity as well. 

4. On a large walled plate, scatter the breadcrumbs. Next pick the battered chicken carefully, holding it over the bowl to allow any excess to drip back to the bowl. 

5. Carefully roll the chicken onto the breadcrumbs covering every crevice. You can also stuff the cavity with some aromatics such as lemon wedges or rosemary.

6. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the chicken onto a lightly greased baking tray (or a greased aluminium foil paper, although I prefer the former) and roast for 1 hour. Check intermittently through the oven window to ensure that there is no burning. This works well in case of an oven that lights both on the top and bottom. If not you may need to turn the chicken, breast side down after 30 minutes of roasting.

7. Serve hot with your favourite bread rolls, salad and in my case Hummus.
*Note: For kids, you may want to reduce the smoked paprika to 1/2 tbsp (although smoked paprika is not as spicy)