This simple fried chicken will be your favourite, it’s really easy to make, and the flavour is wonderful. Place your chicken thighs and drumsticks into a bowl but you can also use breasts and wings if you want. Pour buttermilk into the bowl of the chicken and if you can’t find buttermilk you can make it at home by mixing some whole milk with a little bit of lemon juice.
Season with a little bit of salt then use your hands, mix everything well, and make sure every piece of the chicken is well covered then cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least for hours. 3o minutes before frying, you will take the chicken out of the fridge and just let it rest at room temperature. In a dish, add the flour together with salt and sugar then season with black pepper.
You will also add onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, thyme, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Stir it and set it aside. Take the chilled chicken and dip each piece in buttermilk that you had used as a brine cover it with the flour mixture then do it the second time. Take the already coated chicken and dip it again in the buttermilk then cover it with the flour mixture again and this way you are going to get a nice crust.
Do that with every chicken piece that you have then deep fry the chicken in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oil for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not overcrowd your pan when frying the chicken as this will lower the temperature of the oil and the chicken won’t be well cooked. Once fried, place the chicken on a wire rack that has some paper towel underneath then serve.
Ingredients;
- 8 chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, breast and/or wings)
Brine; - 1 quart (4 cups) buttermilk (You can make a substitute by mixing 4 cups of whole milk with 4 tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice)
- 3 tsp salt or to taste
Breading; - 2½ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ tsp white sugar
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- 1½ tsp onion powder
- 1½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp paprika
- 1½ tsp thyme
- ¾ tsp cayenne pepper (Optional)
- ¾ tsp ground cumin
- Oil for frying
Instructions;
- Place the chicken in a large bowl and pour in the buttermilk and salt. Mix to cover each piece of chicken well, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Take the chicken out of the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes before frying. Reserve the buttermilk.
- Preheat the oil in a deep fryer, large pot, or skillet at 350ºF (180ºC).
- In a shallow pan or baking dish mix the flour, salt, sugar, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, thyme, cayenne pepper, and cumin.
- Breading: Dip each piece of chicken in the buttermilk you reserved previously and then cover with the flour mixture, shake off the excess. Repeat this process a second time, dip the chicken once again in the buttermilk and cover it with more flour.
- Fry the chicken in the preheated oil for a total of 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the juices run clear. Make sure to turn it over halfway through the cooking process.
- Let it drain for a few minutes over a wire rack with paper towels underneath before serving.