Now then, this maybe isn’t the best way to start the New Year diet but it can’t hurt once in a while can it!? It’s also a lot cheaper than our friend Colonel Sanders fried chicken and if I say so myself… tastes pretty near to his ‘secret’ recipe.

You can pick up a decent chicken in most of the supermarkets for about a fiver and the spice mix is basic store cupboard stuff really. I saw fried chicken being made on the TV the other night and thought, how hard can it be?

So after a bit of Googling I found a recipe that was pretty near what I had in the cupboards.  I’ve changed bits, left out bits, the original recipe is here if you want to have a look. But here’s mine.

• 1 teaspoon of the following:
  • Chilli Powder
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Dried Parsley
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Dried Oregano
  • Dried Sage
  • Black Pepper Corns
• 2 teaspoons of Salt
• ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 300g Plain Flour
• .. enough to cover the chicken
• 1 whole chicken, or if you prefer chicken portions
• Oil for frying

If you’re using a whole chicken you’re going to need to portion it.  Start off by cutting it in half along the middle of the bird, use kitchen scissors or a sharp knife for this.  You should then have two halves of chicken, from here it’s fairly straight forward.  You’ll be able to take the breast meat off and then just follow the lines of the joints in the bird to remove the legs, thighs and wings.  Also, If you want to, cut the area where the breast meat was in half this will give you four extra portions!  I cut the breast meat into long strips in a bid to get even more fried chicken, leave the skin on as this will be amazing once it’s fried!

Once you’ve portioned your chicken put it all into a bowl and cover with milk. Leave it for about 20 minutes, or if you’re planning ahead leave it over night as this will make your chicken really lovely.

Next, put all of your spices in a mini blender, or a big blender if you’ve not got a little one.  Once they’re all in, give it a whizz to mix the spices together.  Put the flour into a bowl or a dish, something big enough for you to fit the chicken pieces and stir in the spice mix.

Now, I don’t have a deep fryer, mine went bang ages ago, but if you do have one feel free to use it at this stage.  I heated about 2 inches of oil in a wok.  While the oil is heating up you can start coating your chicken in the flour and spice blend.  Once coated fry the chicken in batches for about 2 minutes either side then put it onto a baking tray.

Once you’ve fried your chicken and its sitting nicely on your baking tray, roast it in the oven for half an hour at 200c, making sure to turn it over half way through.  Once it’s done it should be lovely and crispy, season again with a couple of pinches of salt and serve!