KFC without the "F"

Yes, it hardly seems believable, but below I print a recipe that bears a striking resemblance to Kentucky Fried Chicken. Only Healthy.

Now let’s not kid ourselves here, this is hardly the real thing. Anyone expecting the grease-slicked grin of contentment that comes from gnawing the flesh off a bucket of original recipe and washing it down with gallons of fizzy might be slightly disappointed by the promise that this recipe seems to make.

If however, you’ve been politely declining invitations to dine at the Colonel’s establishment whilst patting your seemingly ever-expanding waistline as an excuse, this might just help to satisfy those cravings in the meantime.

16 chicken drumsticks (you can do this with chicken wings too for nibbles at a party)

500 mL buttermilk

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp paprika

1 tab oil

Soak the chicken drumsticks in buttermilk. This can be done up to two days ahead, or as little as a couple of hours.

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and move the drumsticks into a different container or plastic bag, shaking and squeezing as much as possible of the buttermilk off, then put the flour and seasonings in and give everything a good shake.

Spread oil over the bottom of a big roasting dish and place all the chicken pieces in. Bake for about an hour or until they’re nice and brown and crispy lookin. Drumsticks have enough fat to keep them moist so if you overcook a bit they’ll just become more tender. Check them at about the 45 minute mark, sometimes they’ll appear a bit floury on top, if this happens I pour a bit of the fat out of the dish into a jug and pour over the dry bits. Don’t turn them as this will just mess up the crispiness of the coating

Serve with mashed potato and gravy and coleslaw for authenticity, and provide fingerbowls with slices of lemon to make it classy.