Harissa Fried Chicken
Crispy and juicy Harissa Fried Chicken is the latest creation I've been able to incorporate the spicy spice paste into. Because as soon as I get to know new spices or pastes that I like, I want to mix them straight into every recipe! I was Harissa was already familiar to me, but there are so many different pastes and dry spice blends that I first had to try my way through to find the right one for me. I like it spicy! And there are some pastes that are less spicy - but taste a bit smokier or saltier.
Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside - the challenge with fried chicken
Have you ever made fried chicken yourself? In your imagination it's super elaborate and above all... you're standing in front of a pot with hot oil and it smells everywhere! But in practice, all you have to do is mix up a great marinade, let the chicken soak in it, then lovingly roll it in flour and finally fry it until golden brown. And the fresher the oil, the less it smells in the house. Windows and extractor bonnets can still be opened and turned on.
Why chicken thighs and not chicken breast fillet? Of course you can also use the fillet. Personally, however, I prefer to use chicken thighs, even with the skin on. Because the meat is more tender than the chicken breast. And the yoghurt marinade makes the meat extra tender and juicy. The longer you marinate your chicken pieces, the better they take on the spiciness. That's why I like to marinate them overnight and bread them the next day. That way, the fried chicken becomes nicely aromatic.
The breading provides the crunch and everyone feels it differently. That's why you should try out different breadings. That's what I did. I tested wheat flour and Pankow and both turned out crispy chicken. You can also mix flour and starch or use plain breadcrumbs instead of pankow. My favourite, however, is the simple flour breading for the harissa fried chicken.
Dip, stipp, hurray - lemon mayonnaise
For me, fried chicken always needs something to dip, dip or dip! As a big fan of mayo, I make it easy for myself and simply mix some lemon juice and zest into the cream and the lemon mayonnaise is ready! The citrus note brings acidity into play and balances the flavours. You can also drizzle some fresh lemon juice over your Harissa Fried Chicken pieces!
Recipe for Harissa Fried Chicken
Ingredients
For the Fried Chicken
- 1 Kg roasted chicken thighs or chicken breast fillet
- 250 g Yogurt (10% fat)
- 6 EL Harissa
- 1 TSP Salt
- 100 g Flour (or pankow)
- Oil for frying
For the lemon mayonnaise
- 100 g Mayonnaise
- 1 Lemon
As a side dish
Preparation
Preparation Fried Chicken
- Wash the chicken, pat dry and cut into pieces (approx. 4-5 cm).
- Mix the yoghurt with the harissa and salt. If you don't like it quite as spicy, you can adjust the amount of harissa paste to your liking.
- Place the chicken pieces in the yoghurt-harissa marinade and marinate for approx. 1 hour, but preferably overnight.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and turn them in flour or pankow until breadcrumbs adhere everywhere.
- Fry the breaded chicken pieces in hot oil at approx. 175 °C for approx. 5 minutes until golden brown.
Preparation lemon mayo
- Put the mayo in a small bowl. Grate lemon zest over the top, add a big squeeze of lemon juice and mix everything together.
- Serve Harissa Fried Chicken with lemon mayonnaise. A simple coleslaw with fresh herbs goes well with this.
Notes
Nutritional values
Have you acquired a taste for harissa? Then try chicken wings with yoghurt-harissa dip or crispy smashed potatoes with harissa mayo!
Dear Rafik,
Unfortunately, your blog has lost a lot of its appeal since there is so much advertising on it. I've noticed this on other blogs too, and it's a great pity. In this context, I would also like to mention that I no longer pay attention to blogs that are so full of advertising!
Hello dear Ute,
thank you very much for your feedback. Advertising is of course never very attractive, but in this case it helps me to cover at least a fraction of the costs of maintaining the blog. The content on my blog and others is free for all to read. Many readers really enjoy it. To keep it that way, the income has to come from somewhere else. A subscription model would be conceivable - but many people would certainly not like that either. I really put a lot of work, heart and soul and time into this blog and make my living through food content. I don't understand why my time and work should also be free. You probably don't do your job for free either, do you? Of course, my blog will continue to be available to you for free in the future.
Best regards
Rafik