Name: Grain-Free Fried Chicken with Buttermilk Gravy (GAPS Version)
Ingredients: 600ml coconut/almond milk, or preferred milk; 2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice; 1 large free range chicken, cut into pieces, or 2kg chicken pieces; 1 cup almond meal, or pepita meal for nut free; 1 cup coconut flour; 1 ½ tsp fine sea salt; 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1/2-1 cup beef tallow, or a mixture of ghee and extra virgin olive oil for frying*; 3 Tbsp tallow, bacon fat or ghee; 3 Tbsp flour mixture (left over from coating chicken); leftover buttermilk from soaking chicken; 2 cups coconut/almond milk, or preferred milk**; salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients

Units

Chicken

600ml coconut/almond milk, or preferred milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 large free range chicken, cut into pieces, or 2kg chicken pieces
1 cup almond meal, or pepita meal for nut free
1 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2-1 cup beef tallow, or a mixture of ghee and extra virgin olive oil for frying*

Gravy

3 Tbsp tallow, bacon fat or ghee
3 Tbsp flour mixture (left over from coating chicken)
leftover buttermilk from soaking chicken
2 cups coconut/almond milk, or preferred milk**
salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

Chicken Method

Mix together milk and vinegar or lemon juice in a large bowl. The milk will slightly curdle. Add chicken pieces, mix through, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight). This softens the meat.
Mix together almond meal, coconut flour, salt, smoked paprika and oregano in a large bowl, using a wire whisk.
Remove chicken pieces one at a time from ‘buttermilk’ and coat well in flour mixture, pressing flour firmly into the chicken so it sticks on well. Lay chicken pieces on a tray. Place into fridge and chill for 30 mins to firm coating.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Place chunks of beef tallow (or ghee and olive oil) into a large frying pan and heat to melt. Oil/fat should be about 1cm deep. Heat over medium-high heat, then add chicken pieces in a single layer. Reduce heat a little, and cook chicken until brown all over, approx. 5 mins per side, taking care not to burn as the almond/coconut flour coating cooks a lot quicker than regular flour. If you don’t have a large frying pan, you may need to cook the chicken in a couple of batches, scraping out crumbs from pan in between and adding more fat/oil between batches as needed.
Once chicken is golden brown, remove from frying pan with tongs and place into a large baking dish or baking tray in a single layer. The chicken won’t be cooked through yet, it will finish cooking in the oven.
Place into preheated oven, and cook for 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the meaty part of chicken shows juices are clear.

Gravy Method

While chicken finishes cooking in the oven, make the gravy. Wipe out the frying pan with kitchen towels so there’s no burnt bits. Add fat to the pan and heat over medium temp.
Add 3 Tbsp of the leftover flour mixture from coating the chicken, and stir with a wooden spoon or whisk, cooking until mixture is bubbling and thickened.
Add the leftover buttermilk from soaking the chicken, along with 1 cup of the coconut/almond milk. Stir or whisk to remove any lumps, and simmer until thickened, stirring now and then. Add more milk if gravy gets too thick and continue to whisk until done.
Once gravy is thickened, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving

Serve chicken with Cauliflower & Leek Mash or mashed potatoes, vegetables, and the buttermilk gravy. Chicken is also delicious cold the next day for lunchboxes!

Storage

Store chicken and gravy separately in fridge for up to 2 days. Not suitable for freezing as it will dry out.

Notes

Tips

Oil for frying: If you’re wondering why I don’t use coconut oil for frying, it’s because it has a smoke point of only 170C, and when you shallow fry the oil will reach approx 190-210C. I prefer to use beef tallow as the smoke point is 250C, or if I don’t have any of that I use a mixture of ghee (also 250C smoke point) and extra virgin olive oil (206C smoke point). If using extra virgin olive oil, read THIS STUDY for info on safe use and oxidative stability.
To prepare ahead: Place chicken in milk to soak overnight. Next morning coat chicken in flour mixture, cover and place in fridge. Cook in the evening.

Variations

Fried chicken strips: Use chicken thigh fillets instead of chicken pieces, slice into 2cm wide strips, cook as above but only for about 10-15 mins in oven, until cooked through.
Coconut free: Replace coconut flour with banana flour or cassava flour, and replace coconut milk with milk of choice.
Milks: You can use whichever milks you prefer, but my favourite dairy free options are coconut/almond or cashew milk as they work best for the gravy because the flavour is mild, and they thicken well. Other milks may need more time to simmer and reduce. If you are ok with dairy, you can use dairy buttermilk in place of the coconut/almond milk and vinegar/lemon juice. You will need some plain milk to add to the gravy as well.