🍗 Copycat KFC Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy!

Homemade is always the best..

Sometimes, when I pass a fast-food chicken restaurant in a shopping centre or elsewhere, I feel very tempted to go in. Once we've tasted those crispy chicken legs or wings, we're hooked for life, aren't we? Yet we all know that fast food chains are not good for our health: the frying oil may have been reused countless times; we don't know exactly where the ingredients come from and whether they use suspect chemicals or not. They claim they don't, but how can we be sure?

So, through trial and error, I came up with this method that guarantees a perfectly crispy coating, just like those takeaway fast food chicken temptations. It also allows me to tweak the spices to suit the day. If it's a paprika day, let it be a paprika day. Cumin, ginger or garlic powder, or sometimes all of the above. And because it's homemade, I know that nothing in this dish would harm my family.

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INGREDIENTS:

Fried Chicken:

• 10 chicken drumsticks

• 2 cups (500ml) avocado oil (canola, peanut or any frying oil)

• 1 ½ cup (360ml) buttermilk

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 egg

• 2 cups (240g) flour

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1 tbsp black pepper

• 1 tsp celery salt

• 2 tsp sweet paprika

• 1 1/2 tsp thyme

• 1 1/2 teaspoons basil

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon mustard powder

• 1 teaspoon ginger powder

Gravy:

• 1 1/2 cup (360ml) cup beef stock

• 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 3 tbsp all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Garnish, mashed potatoes:

• 1kg/2lb russet potatoes

• 1 tbsp salt (for the water)

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup (130ml) warm milk

Kitchen utensils: large bowl, cling film, tweezers, spoon or spatula, whisk, large plate, saucepan to cook the potatoes, heavy-bottomed saucepan to fry the chicken, oven rack, large saucepan, potato ricer.

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METHOD: