Southern-ish Style Fried Chicken

When I was studying in the US, the town where I lived then did not have the fabulous Church’s Chicken  (now they do). The nearest Church’s was about 30 miles away. Anyway, I had a friend in the college in another town closer to this Church’s. He was not very fond of foreign food and to barter for a (not that good in those days) home cooked Thai meal; he would buy a box of Church’s Chicken for us (my roommates and I) whenever he came to visit.

I have made the southern style fried chicken at home (of course, years and years later – not enough fingers to count) and it’s quite OK. I have not eaten Church’s Chicken for decades hence cannot remember the taste fresh enough to compare – so I don’t feel much let down with my own cooking.

500-600 grams of thigh and breast chicken meat (dark meat is far more delish)

2 tablespoons of good quality mayonnaise

½ cup of buttermilk or plain yogurt

Salt & pepper

A bit of flaky sea salt

Paprika (optional)

Chicken stock powder (optional)

¾ cup of plain flour

Oil for deep frying

Remove excess fat from chicken but leave skin on – cut into pieces (7-8 cm). Mix mayonnaise, yogurt, salt or chicken powder and pepper together in a bowl. Marinate the chicken pieces in yogurt mixture and leave in the fridge for a few hours.

In the deep pan, heat the oil on the medium high heat. Place flour in a bowl and dredge the chicken pieces in the flour - shake off excess flour and fry in batch. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Sprinkle with sea salt and paprika. Serve hot with fries.