Ingredients

• 1.5kg chicken thighs with skin
For the brine:
• 1.8 litres cold water
• 1 lemon, halved
• 6 bay leaves
• 30ml honey
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly crushed
• 1 tablespoon pepper corns
• 1/2 cup salt
For the dredging and frying
• Plenty of oil for deep-frying (I used canola)
• 500ml buttermilk
• Salt and pepper
For the coating
• 3 cups plain flour
• 15g (30ml) garlic powder
• 15g (30ml) onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Brining the chicken:
1. First, make the brine by combining all the brine ingredients in a large pot. Cover and bring to the boil. Boil for a minute, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. The brine can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
2. When the brine is completely cool, pour into a large container and add the chicken thighs (leave them whole at this point). Make sure the thighs are completely submerged – pop a plate on top to weigh them down if necessary. Refrigerate for 6 hours – don’t leave it in the brine any longer than this or it will be too salty.
3. Remove the chicken from the brine, discarding all the brine liquid, and rinse under cold water. Remove any herbs or spices that may be stuck to the skin and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken into smaller pieces – about 5-6 pieces per thigh (remember the smaller they are, the quicker they’ll cook). Set aside and let the meat rest at room temperature for 1.5 hours to come up to room temperature.
Preparing to fry
4. When ready to cook, fill a large pot (or a deep fryer if you have one) with plenty of oil – but don’t fill to more than 1/3 of the way up the side of the pot. Heat the oil to 160°C.
5. Turn on the oven to keep the chicken warm while it’s frying – about 100°C should do it. Set a wire rack over a tray and line a second tray with baking paper.
Coating the chicken
6. Next, make the coating. Combine all the coating ingredients into a large bowl, stirring to ensure it’s all well combined. Transfer half of the coating to a second large bowl. Pour the buttermilk into a third bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set up a dipping station: the chicken pieces, one bowl of flour coating, the bowl of buttermilk, the second bowl of flour coating, and the baking paper lined tray.
7. When you’re ready to start frying, dip a piece of chicken into the first bowl of coating, turning to coat and patting off the excess. Then dip it into the buttermilk, allowing any excess to run back into the bowl. Finally, dip it into the second bowl of coating and place it on the baking paper lined tray. Repeat until all the meat is coated – though you may want to start frying some chicken while this is happening. One person to fry and one person to dip the chicken would be a good idea at this stage to speed things up.
Frying the chicken
8. Carefully lower the floured chicken pieces into the hot oil. Do this in batches so the oil doesn’t get too cold. If necessary, adjust the heat to keep it at the proper temperature, and carefully move the meat around in the oil as they fry. Fry for about 7 minutes or it’s until golden brown, cooked through and crispy. (Remember that if you have large pieces of meat or meat on the bone it will take longer.)
9. Transfer the fried chicken to the wire rack and place in the oven to keep warm while you fry the rest of the chicken.

Notes