Grain-Free Fried Chicken with Buttermilk Gravy

Chicken Method

1. Mix together milk and vinegar or lemon juice in a large bowl. The milk will slightly curdle. Add chicken pieces, mix through, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight). This softens the meat.
2. Mix together almond meal, coconut flour, salt, smoked paprika and oregano in a large bowl, using a wire whisk.
3. Remove chicken pieces one at a time from ‘buttermilk’ and coat well in flour mixture, pressing flour firmly into the chicken so it sticks on well. Lay chicken pieces on a tray. Place into fridge and chill for 30 mins to firm coating.
4. Preheat oven to 180C.
5. Pour some olive oil into a large frying pan to about 1cm deep. Heat over medium heat, then add chicken pieces in a single layer. Reduce heat a little, and cook chicken until brown all over, approx. 5 mins per side, taking care not to burn as the almond/coconut flour coating cooks a lot quicker than regular flour. If you don’t have a large frying pan, you may need to cook the chicken in a couple of batches, scraping out crumbs from pan in between and adding more oil between batches as needed. 
6. Once chicken is golden brown, remove from frying pan with tongs and place into a large baking dish or baking tray in a single layer. The chicken won’t be cooked through yet, it will finish cooking in the oven.
7. Place into preheated oven, and cook for 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the meaty part of chicken shows juices are clear.

Gravy Method

1. While chicken finishes cooking in the oven, make the gravy. Remove oil to a bowl to be disposed of later, and wipe out the frying pan with kitchen towels. Add fat or ghee and heat over medium temp.
2. Add 3 Tbsp of the leftover flour mixture from coating the chicken, and stir with a wooden spoon or whisk, cooking until mixture is bubbling and thickened.
3. Add the leftover buttermilk from soaking the chicken, along with 1 cup of the coconut/almond milk. Stir or whisk to remove any lumps, and simmer until thickened, stirring now and then. Add more milk if gravy gets too thick and continue to whisk until done.
4. Once gravy is thickened, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving

Serve chicken with Cauliflower & Leek Mash or mashed potatoes, vegetables, and the buttermilk gravy. Chicken is also delicious cold the next day for lunchboxes!

Storage

Store chicken and gravy separately in fridge for up to 2 days. Not suitable for freezing as it will dry out.

Chicken Method

1. Mix together milk and vinegar or lemon juice in a large bowl. The milk should slightly curdle to make a dairy free ‘buttermilk’. Add chicken pieces, cover, mix through, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight). This softens the meat.
2. Mix together buckwheat flour, salt, smoked paprika and oregano in a large bowl, using a wire whisk.
3. Remove chicken pieces one at a time from ‘buttermilk’ and coat well in flour mixture, pressing flour firmly into the chicken so it sticks on well.
4. Pour some olive oil into a large frying pan to about 1cm deep. Heat over medium heat, then add chicken pieces in a single layer. Reduce heat to med-low or until oil is bubbling gently. Cook until brown all over, approx. 15 mins per side, or until a skewer inserted into the meaty part of chicken shows juices are clear. You may need to cook the chicken in a couple of batches if it doesn’t all fit in the pan, scraping out crumbs from pan in between batches and adding more oil if needed. I can fit the whole batch in my 35cm Solidteknics AUS-ion skillet.
5. Remove chicken from frying pan and place into a large baking dish or tray in a single layer. Place into oven and turn oven on to 100C to keep chicken warm while you make gravy.

Gravy Method

1. Tip the oil out of the frying pan into a bowl and set aside to discard later. (Leave the ‘bits’ in the pan from cooking the chicken.)
2. Add the ghee or bacon fat to the pan with the leftover flour mixture, and cook over med heat, stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk, until mixture is bubbling and thickened.
3. Add the leftover milk from soaking the chicken, along with 1 cup of the coconut/almond milk. Stir or whisk to remove any lumps, and simmer until thickened, stirring now and then. Add some more milk if needed.
4. Once gravy is thickened, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving

1. Serve chicken with Cauliflower & Leek Mash or mashed potatoes, vegetables, and the buttermilk gravy. The chicken is also delicious cold the next day for lunchboxes!

Storage

1. Store chicken and gravy separately in fridge for up to 2 days. Not suitable for freezing as it will dry out.