Fried chicken during Pesach? Whaaaat? Yessss! Crunchy, crispy, and sizzling with a teensy bit of grease and salt right out of the pan.
Leftover fried chicken (as if!) can be stored, covered, for up to 3 days and reheated on a foil-lined baking sheet at 350°F for about 15 minutes.
This is just what you need after all the matzo and seder foods. Some roll-up-the-sleeves grub! Feel free to raid your refrigerator and fry up: zucchini, pickles (patted dry), carrots, butternut squash, or mushrooms and let it fry! Use a great quality extra virgin olive oil. We love Colavita!
Matzo Fried Chicken and Crispy Fried Onion Rings
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup potato starch placed in a casserole
- 12 egg whites whisked with ¼ cup water, placed in a casserole
- 3 cups matzo meal
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dried ginger
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 chickens about 3 – 4 pounds each, cut into 8 pieces
- 6 cups extra virgin olive oil or more for larger pans
- Garnish: additional salt lemon wedges
- 2 large Spanish or red onions sliced thinly into rounds
Instructions
Fried Chicken:
- Line a baking sheet with several layers of brown paper bags (they soak up extra oil).
- Line up potato starch container, followed by egg whites, and finally a third container (could be a brown paper bag) filled with matzo meal, cinnamon, ginger, thyme, allspice, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
- Heat 3 inches of evoo in a heavy bottom pan (I love my cast iron skillet) to 360°F.
- Pat dry chicken and season with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken pieces in potato starch and clap off excess.
- Coat chicken in egg whites and finally in seasoned matzo meal.
- Allow chicken to sit in matzo meal for about 10 minutes (this dries the crust a bit and will help keep it from falling off).
- Deep fry chicken, several pieces at a time, for 7 to 10 minutes per batch (you can sneak a peek by cutting open a thigh (they take the longest to cook) or by inserting a thermometer in thickest part of thigh and it should register 150°F.
- Cool chicken on paper bags. Top with an additional sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lemon, if desired.
Fried Onion Rings:
- Separate sliced onions into individual rings.
- Follow same procedure for chicken and fry for 3 minutes or until golden brown on all sides. Be careful not to overload the pan.
You must try, the flavor is incredible and the texture is perfect
I am going to try this Sunday – I’ve used matzah meal for frying chicken before but not those spices – my first instinct is to turn my nose up but I might give it a try?…. cinnamon?
Thanks for sharing, we do love to spice things up.
I make my fried chicken on Pesach with Potato Starch only (no Matzah meal) and whole eggs. It is extraordinarily crispy. Interesting combination of spices. Chag Kasher V’sameach