Coronation fried chicken sandwich
A celebratory sandwich for a very special occasion – but not like any you’ve ever tasted before! Brought to you by the master of fried chicken.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 125ml/4fl oz buttermilk
- 1 heaped tbsp mild curry powder, plus extra for seasoning
- 4 chicken thighs (bones and skin removed)
- 125g/4½oz fine semolina
- 65²µ/2¼´Ç³ú tapioca starch
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled raisins
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 50ml/2fl oz cider vinegar
- 25g/1oz sugar
- 25g/1oz golden raisins
For the chilli mayonnaise
- 1 free-range egg yolk
- ¼ lemon, zest and juice
- ½ tbsp Scotch bonnet jam (or other hot chilli jam)
- 125ml/4fl oz vegetable oil
- salt
To assemble
- 25g/1oz flaked almonds
- 5cm/2in piece cucumber
- ¼ mango, peeled and finely sliced
- few coriander sprigs, leaves picked
- 4-8 slices white tin loaf
Method
To marinade the chicken, put the buttermilk and curry powder into a bowl, add a generous pinch of salt and mix well. Cut each thigh into 3 equal pieces and add to buttermilk mixture. Cover and set aside in the fridge to marinade, ideally for 24 hours.
In a medium bowl, mix the semolina and tapioca then season with salt and pepper. Set your deep fat fryer to 170C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
Remove the chicken chunks from the marinade and coat in the flour mix, knocking off any excess. Carefully drop into the hot oil and deep fry for 5 minutes until golden, then drain well on kitchen roll. Sprinkle with the curry powder.
To make the pickled raisins, toast the coriander seeds in dry saucepan until fragrant. Add the vinegar, sugar and 75ml/ 2½fl oz water to the pan, and bring to boil. Add the raisins and briefly bring back to the boil before turning off the heat and leaving to cool completely.
To make the chilli mayonnaise, put the egg yolk, lemon zest and juice, Scotch bonnet jam and a pinch of salt into a medium sized bowl. Use a whisk to combine everything evenly before adding the oil, drop by drop to begin with. Once the mixture starts to thicken, gradually add the oil in a gentle stream, whisking at all times. Once all the oil has been incorporated and your mixture is stiff, season to taste.
Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3½. Put the flaked almonds on a baking tray and bake for 6–8 minutes until golden brown. Alternatively, you can do this in a dry frying pan – just keep a close eye as they can burn easily.
Halve the cucumber lengthways then slice into thin semi-circles. Place in a small bowl then pour over some of the cooled pickling liquor from the raisins. Toss to coat.
Take two slices of the bread and spread both generously with the chilli mayonnaise. Divide the chicken between the slices then layer on the sliced mango, cucumber, pickled raisins, almonds and coriander. Spread the rest of the mayonnaise over the remaining bread slices and top the sandwiches, mayo side down.
Recipe Tips
If you can’t find tapioca starch or semolina you can use a 2:1 mix of plain flour to cornflour to coat the chicken which will work just as well.
If you don’t have a deep fryer you can shallow fry the chicken in a frying pan with 2.5cm/1’’ of oil. Increase the cooking time to 3–4 minutes per side.
If you want to make the mayonnaise in larger quantities you can use a food processor – or you can use premade mayo, just mix chilli jam into it.
For a vegetarian version, use a substitute chicken product. No need to marinade, just dip, coat and cook right away. You just need it to be hot through and the coating to be brown and crispy.