I had an excess of buttermilk left over from when I was making cakes so had to come up with a way not the waste the rest!
This recipe for fried chicken legs is basically a consolation of not having perfect barbecue weather all the time. It’s really easy to put together and the end result is crispy chicken with a simple but tasty layer of herbs and spices surrounding it.
Note: You need to soak the chicken for at least 10 hours before cooking. I don’t own a deep fat fryer so I heated up the oil in a pan but you can use a fryer if you wish.
Serves 5 – you can really make as many as you want – I’m just presuming that you’d love at least 3 legs per person.
Time: 1 hour (this is just cook and prep time for on the day.
Ingredients:
- 10 Irish chicken drumsticks (source from your local butchers)
- 500ml Irish buttermilk (enough to cover the chicken pieces)
- 100g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
Herbs and spices:
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground dried sage
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried marjoram
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 4 tbsp sweet paprika
- 2 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tsp onion salt
- 4 tsp table salt
- Vegetable or rapeseed oil, for shallow frying in a pan
Method:
- Place all of your the chicken pieces in a large container and cover the legs with the buttermilk and refrigerate for about 12 hours (I put mine in the milk in the early morning and they were ready for the evening).
- Prepare the mix for coating the chicken: put your flours in a bowl and then add in the dried spices and herbs.
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over a medium-low heat and add your oil – you basically want to make sure that your chicken will be covered in the oil.
- Take out your container with the chicken, and with each leg shake off as much of the buttermilk as you can.
- Cover the pieces in the dry mix until coated and then set aside on a plate.
- Fry 2-3 pieces of chicken at a time but make sure not to crowd the pan. Sizzle the chicken until they’re cooked through and golden brown this can take about 15 minutes (I had two pans on the go at one stage).
- Serve with salads or whatever tickles your fancy!
(Image and recipe copyright of Una Minh Kavanagh)
