Secret Recipe Fried Chicken with Pepper Gravy
Irene Muller’s homemade secret recipe fried chicken, with an egg-dipped herb and spice coating, a crisp oven finish and silky pepper gravy.
Ingredients
Chicken 
- 1 whole chicken about 1.6 kg, jointed into 8 pieces; halve very large breasts crosswise
- 3 large eggs beaten
- sunflower or canola oil enough for a 2 cm depth in your pan, approximately 750 ml–1 litre; for frying, not all consumed
Herb and spice coating
- 2 cups plain flour
- 0.25 cup cornflour cornstarch; for a crisper coating
- 4 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning or chicken stock powder; use a reduced-salt version if available
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 0.5 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 0.5 tsp garlic powder
- 0.5 tsp onion powder
- 0.5 tsp celery salt
Pepper gravy
- 30 g butter
- 30 g plain flour fresh flour, separate from the chicken coating
- 500 ml chicken stock warm; preferably reduced-salt
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 0.5 tsp coarsely ground black pepper or to taste
- salt only if needed
Instructions
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Set an oven-safe wire rack over a baking tray. Pat the chicken pieces dry with kitchen paper. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.
- Rub the dried herbs finely between your fingers, or crush them briefly with a pestle and mortar. Whisk together the flour, cornflour and all the coating seasonings in a wide dish until evenly combined.
- Dip each chicken piece in the beaten egg, allowing excess to drip off. Press firmly into the seasoned flour on every side. Set on a tray for 10 minutes so the coating adheres. Discard leftover egg and flour that have touched raw chicken.
- Pour oil to a depth of about 2 cm into a deep, heavy pan, keeping the pan no more than one-third full. Heat to 170°C. Fry in two or three uncrowded batches for about 6–8 minutes per batch, turning carefully until golden on both sides. Aim to keep the oil at 160–170°C and allow it to recover between batches. The chicken is not yet cooked through. Keep the pan uncovered.
- Transfer each browned batch directly to the prepared rack in the oven. Cook for approximately 15–25 minutes, depending on piece size. Check pieces individually with a thermometer: the thickest part must reach at least 74°C without the probe touching bone. Remove smaller pieces as they are done. Colour alone is not a reliable guide.
- While the chicken finishes cooking, melt the butter in a clean saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the fresh 30 g flour and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until light golden. Gradually whisk in the warm stock until smooth. Simmer gently for 5–8 minutes, stirring, until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Stir in the Dijon mustard and black pepper; taste before adding salt. Add a splash of water if too thick.
- Rest the cooked chicken uncovered on its rack for 5 minutes. Serve with the hot gravy on the side, plus mashed potatoes, crunchy slaw or a fresh salad. Spoon gravy over the chicken just before eating to preserve the crust.
Notes
Use a 250 ml measuring cup and a 5 ml teaspoon. Prep includes the 10-minute coating rest; cooking includes the final 5-minute rest. Allow longer for large pieces or extra batches. This homemade blend uses Irene’s original herbs and spices. Cornflour adds crispness, and an uncovered fry followed by an oven finish helps keep the coating crunchy. If using salty chicken stock powder, reduce the separate coating salt to ½ tsp. Make gravy with fresh flour, never the coating left from raw chicken.