This was an experiment to test out frying food with crumb coating in the T-fal Actifry. One thing great about this machine is that it uses just one tablespoon of fat to cook, and has an in-built paddle that stirs while it cooks. This makes it really convenient for me to attend to other stuff in the kitchen or have fun with the kids! I used water chestnut starch for the crumb coating to make it AIP-compliant and it turned out really crispy and crunchy! My son loved them, though a fair amount of crumbs dropped off during the cooking process. I think that is due to the fact that I had overcrowded the pan, although it could have been due to the lack of an egg binder. I’ll have to try this again and post an update. The brine and seasonings make for a very mild-tasting chicken. Use a good quality chicken if possible! If you want more robust flavours, feel free to experiment with your favourite herbs and spices.
Brining the chicken with garlic and salt
Coated chicken pieces in the Actifry
Ingredients (Serves 3 – 4)
- 2 chicken breasts (about 1kg/ 2lbs)
- 1-2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup coarse salt
- 4 cups water
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup water chestnut starch/ flour
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Method
- Rinse chicken breasts and trim off excess fat, if any
- In a casserole dish, dissolve the coarse salt in water
- Add the smashed garlic cloves and honey, and stir to incorporate
- Place chicken breasts in brine and allow to brine for at least 30 minutes
- Remove chicken breasts and discard brine
- Rinse chicken breasts thoroughly and cut into bite size pieces (about 1.5 inch cubes)
- Place water chestnut flour in a shallow dish and add sea salt, stir to mix
- Dredge chicken pieces in flour/salt mixture and place on a tray
- After all the pieces have been dredged, place the tray in the fridge for 20 minutes to allow them to dry
- Place in T-fal Actifry pan and cook for 25 mins or until cooked through and golden brown. (Note: More advisable to work in 1/2lb or ~450g batches at approximately 14mins per batch for more even cooking)
- Deep fry or shallow fry or bake at 400F for 10-15 minutes until cooked through and golden brown
- Serve with a little bit of honey on the side as a dip
