A man eating his own head, a seventh season of ‘The Sopranos’ and Conor McGregor losing in the UFC (pre UFC 196) are all something you won’t see, ever. Likewise, cider battered chicken is something you haven’t seen until now. I thoroughly enjoyed creating this dish. On the taste test my family nearly took the hands off me with anticipation. Dan Kelly’s Cider  really complemented the chicken, there is a fantastic tartness about it that balances the spice and the sweetness remarkably well. The chicken is unbelievably moist and tender and with the extra crunch of the light crispy batter,it makes a wonderful combination.

I believe todays generation have lost the ability to spend the time cooking. They want everything to be instant and are in a total panic about time, they feel that they don’t have enough of it to cook a meal. I know people can be tight on time when they have kids and a full-time job but if we organise and pre-plan our dishes we will be less likely to order fast food or buy oven ready meals. Fair enough deep fried chicken isn’t overly healthy, but if you are going eat it you may as well do it right. By having it prepared by you, who has full control over what goes into it.

The Ingredients:

10 chicken drumsticks

4 cups of flour

1 bottle of Dan Kelly’s Cider ( there is no equivalent)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp chilli powder

2 litres of sunflower oil

The Make:

Season the drumsticks with a little salt and pepper. Place the drumsticks in a deep oven tray and cover with sunflower oil. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 100C for 1 and 3/4 hours. Carefully remove chicken from the oil and let it rest on a rack. In a bowl, make your dry mix with two cups of flour,  1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp garlic granules, 1 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp chilli powder. Taste the dry mix to make sure it’s seasoned enough, if not add more of what’s lacking. In a separate bowl whisk 300ml of cider with 2 cups of flour until smooth. With your cooled oil from the confit chicken carefully sieve it into a large pot and heat it to 175C. Now take your drumsticks, 1 at a time, and dip into the dry mix. Make sure the chicken is evenly coated with the mix. Now dip the drumstick into the cider batter. Carefully place the batter coated drumstick into the hot oil and cook until it is golden. This doesn’t take long as the meat is already cooked. Once it is done allow it to drain on a rack. Repeat this with the remaining pieces of chicken. Serve the chicken with a nice hot sauce and an ice cold Dan Kelly’s, of course. Enjoy.