Copycat KFC Deep Fried Chicken

There are lots of recipes online for copycat KFC style deep fried chicken but I’ve added a couple of tweaks and twists to really get it as close as possible to the finger-lickin’ good original. You can use mixed chicken (value packs from the supermarket are fine as we are soaking it in buttermilk to make it tender and moist). Don’t forget the gravy – here is the recipe!

Ingredients

• Chicken – I used a pack of chicken legs, chicken thighs, and four large chicken breast fillets cut in half
• Salt (fine sea salt is best)
• 480ml Buttermilk
• 240g of Plain Flour
• 1½ Teaspoon of Dried Thyme
• 1½ Teaspoon of Dried Basil
• 1 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano
• 1 Tablespoon of Ground Ginger
• 1 Tablespoon of English Mustard Powder
• 1 Tablespoon of Celery Salt
• 1 Tablespoon of Black Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of Garlic Salt
• 3 Tablespoons of White Pepper
• 4 Tablespoons of Dried Paprika (NOT SMOKED!)

Preparation

1. Put all your chicken (including skin) in a large bowl. Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt over it. Cover the chicken with the buttermilk and give it a good stir. Leave it for at least an hour.

Method

1. In a bowl mix the flour with 2 teaspoons of salt and add all of the herbs and spices.
2. Stir the seasoning mixture around until it’s really well mixed.
3. Take each piece of chicken out of the buttermilk and let it drain off slightly then roll it in the seasoning mix until it’s covered. Put the covered chicken onto a wire rack or plate and repeat this process until you have a nice pile of seasoned, coated chicken.
4. Let the coated chicken rest to dry out for a little while (about 20 minutes is good) as this helps to make the chicken more tender and the coating crispier.
5. Heat your deep fat fryer to about 180 degrees (C).
6. Add two or three pieces of chicken and turn the temperature down to about 160 degrees (C).
7. When the chicken is cooked, take it out and put it on a warm plate.
8. Take the temperature back up to about 180, add three more pieces of chicken, drop the temp to 160-ish, cook for 12 minutes and keep repeating until all of the chicken is cooked.
9. Before serving check that all of the chicken is cooked (no pink bits in the thickest parts!) and give the pieces a light dusting of salt.
10. Serve with fries and paper towels!

[amazon_link asins=’B002S394BI,B00CEYQRXE,B00G42GHEG,B00J21XKBY,B016AGM15O,B075QMLL7T’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’dadscooclu-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’22dc490c-b1e1-11e8-b501-7f1f08f35133′]