This was a recipe I created for the good folk at Le Creuset, who got me to cook up a series of Malaysian-inspired recipes for them. And out of the 5 recipes (you can find them on their Instagram profile), this one was (to me at least) the golden child!

Over the years I’ve been cooking, I’ve tried out so many fried chicken recipes. From classic buttermilk batters to Taiwanese sweet potato flour ones, Malaysian-style spiced ayam goreng berempah to buckwheat dredges from Table & Apron (a restaurant I used to work at). Each of these have their virtues. If you’re looking for pure flavour, there’s no beating an ayam goreng berempah. If you’re down bad for an easy, no-fuss crust, the Taiwanese style will get you there. And if you want a clear winner in crunchiness, buttermilk is best.

And therein lies the problem. In the realm of fried chicken, it seems that there’s a perpetual balance between three key traits—crispiness, flavour, and effort. And like the college dilemma of maximising either sleep, study, or social life, you only get to pick two out of the three. Fried chicken that is crispy and flavourful often takes a lot of effort (think buttermilk fried chicken, or any restaurant chicken that you wouldn’t venture to recreate at home after learning about the labour that goes into it). Those that are crispy and low effort are often a little lacklustre in flavour (Taiwanese fried chicken, for example, though it’s often made more flavourful by a liberal dusting of a powdered spice mix post-frying). And finally for chickens that are flavourful and low effort, they often don’t go all the way in crispiness (chicken kaarage is a prime example).

All that set-up is to tell you that I’ve found a fried chicken that checks all three boxes. It’s crispy. It’s full of flavour. And most importantly, it’s surprisingly easy to make!

About the Dish

The secret, lies in murukku. For the uninitiated, murukku is a spiced Indian snack, traditionally made of rice flour and roasted urad dal (lentil) flour, then deep-fried into spiral nests. They’re super crispy on their own, and contain a ton of flavour thanks to the crushed cumin and carom seeds flecked throughout its curls.

So when they’re crushed up, they naturally make a crisp, flavourful crumb. Then all you have to do is grab your pieces of chicken (you can brine them for a few hours prior for guaranteed juiciness), coat them in cornstarch, dredge them through egg, then pat the crushed murukku all over the chicken, before deep-frying till they’re the titular golden brown. And the best thing about it is, the murukku does all the work here, giving you a forgivingly crispy crust even if you’ve under- or over-fried it.

So, if you’re looking for a solution to the fried chicken frustration of maximising only two out of three of its crispy, flavourful, or low effort traits, make murukku chicken!

Tips for Success

Here are a few extra tips to make sure your chicken comes out extra crispy and flavourful, with minimal fuss:

Brining the chicken gives you an extra moist chicken. A totally optional step if you’re short on time, but if I have time to plan ahead, I always brine my chicken, whether I’m roasting, grilling, or deep-frying.
Since all of the flavour of the crumb comes from the murukku itself, you’ll want to use a murukku that tastes good on its own! But even if all you’ve got is subpar murukku, you can boost the flavour by adding some ground spices like cumin or coriander seeds.
I use boneless chicken legs in my recipe below as it’s my favourite cut of chicken, but really, any bit of the chicken would work nicely. Just make sure to adjust your frying time accordingly. (For reference, boneless chicken breast takes 6-8 minutes, and bone-in drumsticks and thighs take 12-14 minutes.)
This fried chicken is great on its own, but if you’re a dip person, have this with ketchup, chilli sauce, or honey mustard!

Murukku Fried Chicken

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

2 pieces boneless chicken legs (drumstick + thigh)

Brine (optional)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 cups (480ml) water
2 tsp (8g) salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stalk lemongrass, crushed

Murukku crust
4 tbsp (30g) cornstarch
2 eggs
2 tbsp (30g) yogurt
1 pack (200g) murukku

3 cups (720ml) vegetable oil, for frying, or enough to submerge chicken in
3 stalks curry leaves

Directions

Brine chicken (optional): Toast the black pepper, coriander powder, and cumin powder in a hot pan until fragrant. Then add the water, salt, garlic, and lemongrass, and bring to a boil. Let this cool to room temperature, then add in the chicken and brine for at least 6 hours in the fridge, or overnight for up to 24 hours.
Prepare dredge: Pour the oil into a Marmite pot, and heat it up to 180°C. Then, place the cornstarch in one bowl. Whisk the eggs and yogurt in another bowl. Then, blitz up the murukku in a food processor into a rough powder, and transfer into a third bowl.
Fry chicken: Working with one piece of chicken at a time, coat the chicken completely in cornstarch, pat it down to remove the excess, then dip it in the egg and yogurt mixture, before finally coating it in the crushed murukku. Deep fry for 6-8 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the oil and place on a wire rack. Repeat for all the pieces of chicken, then deep-fry the curry leaves for 10-15 seconds.
Serve and eat: Serve and garnish with the curry leaves, along with a side of your favourite chilli sauce.