Ayam Goreng (Whole Fried Chicken)

• 1 whole chicken

• 4 tbsp corn flour

• 3 curry leaves

Spice paste

• 2 shallot

• 4 garlic cloves

• 3 cm ginger

• 3 cm galangal

• 10 dried chillies

• 2 lemongrass stalks

• 3 cm turmeric

• 1 tbsp coriander powder 1⁄2 tbsp fennel seeds 1⁄2 tsp cumin powder 1⁄2 tbsp curry powder 1 tsp salt

1. Soak the chillies in hot water for 10mins, drain the water and finely chop them.

2. Finely chop the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, shallots and tumeric. Add them into a mortar with the rest of the spices, pound and mix until a smooth paste has formed.

3. Cut the whole chicken into eight pieces (breasts, wings, thighs and drumsticks). Place the chicken pieces into a large mixing bowl and pour over the paste, massage the paste into the chicken pieces to fully coat them.

4. You can leave the meat to marinate overnight, but if you are short for time it is just as effective to get cooking immediately. Just before you are ready to cook, coat the chicken with corn flour ensuring that each piece has an even but thin coat of flour covering the skin. Dust off any excess flour and then place the chicken on a large plate, ready for deep-frying.

5. To deep-fry your chicken, half-fill your wok or deep-fryer with vegetable oil, and heat to 180°C. Test the temperature of your oil by placing the tip of a wooden implement, such as a skewer or chopstick, into the oil: if the wood starts to fizz after a second or so, the oil has reached 180°C.

6. At this point, carefully add all of the chicken pieces into the oil and allow them to fry for approximately 30 seconds over a high heat. Next, reduce the temperature to a low-medium heat so that the oil is just simmering, and leave your chicken to cook slowly for between 10-15 minutes dependent on the thickness of the pieces.

7. After cooking for approximately 15 minutes, turn the heat back up to medium-high and fry the chicken for a further 2 minutes to achieve a really crispy skin. The chicken is ready when the pieces begin to float freely to the top of the oil; when this occurs, carefully remove each piece from the hot oil and transfer to a plate or bowl lined with kitchen roll, to drain. (Hint: differently sized pieces of chicken will vary in cooking time)

Enjoy!