Curry fried chicken (CFC)

This dish is the culmination of my deep love of two things: fried chicken and curry chicken. The addition of coconut milk really brings everything together, enriching the flavours while also mellowing them.

Credit: Bloomsbury / Patricia Niven

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Fried chicken is, to me, the purest and tastiest comfort food known. That is why it’s made its way around the world, with nearly every nation having their own iteration of floured or battered chicken fried in oil.

It’s on most menus in Jamaica, whether at a patty shop or restaurant. And it’s a commonly held belief that Jamaican KFC is the best in the world. I couldn’t possibly comment, having not sampled every nation’s version, though I agree that it is very good. 

M y curry fried chicken is a homage to my love of my grandmother's signature curry chicken dish, but in fried form. 

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1½ tbsp Jamaican curry powder
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5 cm piece of ginger, finely grated
• 3 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
• 1½ tsp sea salt
• 150 ml coconut milk
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• freshly ground black pepper

Coating

• 100 g potato starch/flour, or plain flour
• 100 g fine cornmeal
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric

Chilli and lime mayo

• ¼ cup shop-bought mayonnaise
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• ¼ Scotch bonnet, finely chopped

To serve (optional)

• 1 Scotch bonnet, sliced widthways into rings
• Rice

Marinating time: at least four hours, or overnight.

Instructions

1. Cut each thigh into 2–3 pieces, each about 4 cm big. Put the pieces in a bowl with the curry powder and mix well. Add the garlic, ginger, thyme, salt and a pinch of pepper and mix well, then add the coconut milk and mix to coat completely. Cover and marinate for at least 4 hours in the fridge, but ideally overnight.
2. To make the coating, mix the flour, cornmeal, salt and spices in a bowl. Remove the chicken from the marinade, scraping off any big bits but otherwise leaving everything where it is, and place in the flour mix.
3. Turn the pieces over and press down, ensuring every nook and cranny is exposed to the flour. Remove and rest on a plate for at least 5 minutes, giving the starch enough time to adhere to the chicken.
4. Mix together all the ingredients for the mayo in a small bowl.
5. Set up a wire rack over a tray lined with kitchen paper. Following all the usual precautions for deep-frying, pour enough oil into a saucepan to lie at least 10 cm deep. Heat it to about 140°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, a sprinkling of flour should sizzle gently a few seconds after being dropped into it.
6. Place a few pieces of chicken into the oil, making sure you don’t crowd them. Fry for 3–4 minutes, until they start to colour, then remove with a slotted spoon to the wire rack. Continue until every piece has had its first fry.
7. Now increase the oil temperature to 180°C (see page 288), or until a pinch of flour sizzles almost immediately on contact with the oil.
8. Add the chicken pieces, starting with those that went first into the oil before. Fry for a further 2 minutes or until they have turned a deeper golden brown and are crisp. Remove and drain on the rack, continuing until all pieces have been fried twice.
9. Fry the Scotch bonnet rings for a minute or so, then drain on the rack.
10. Serve the chicken with a sprinkling of fried chilli on top, with the chilli and lime mayo and rice.

Note

•Jamaican curry powder is available from a few specialist retailers in Australia. Melissa suggests that if you don’t have it, you can substitute Madras curry power with a little extra ground turmeric. You can also make your own using Melissa’s recipe: mix together 3 tsp coriander seeds, 3 tsp cumin seeds, 1½ tsp pimento berries,  1½ tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp paprika and 1½ tbsp ground turmeric. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.Shake before use, remove as much as you need, then grind it to a powder. Keeping the spices whole will help it to remain fresh and aromatic.

Recipe and image from Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook by Melissa Thompson (Blooksbury, HB, $46.80). 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Fried chicken is, to me, the purest and tastiest comfort food known. That is why it’s made its way around the world, with nearly every nation having their own iteration of floured or battered chicken fried in oil.

It’s on most menus in Jamaica, whether at a patty shop or restaurant. And it’s a commonly held belief that Jamaican KFC is the best in the world. I couldn’t possibly comment, having not sampled every nation’s version, though I agree that it is very good. 

M y curry fried chicken is a homage to my love of my grandmother's signature curry chicken dish, but in fried form.