Wednesday I made Nik Sharma’s Curry Leaf Popcorn Chicken from his Season cookbook.

The only ingredient in this recipe that I was uncertain of finding is the fresh curry leaves. I wasn’t sure if YDFM carried them. I happened to be close to the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market and found them there, though later I also saw them at YDFM.

Preparation consisted of blending together a marinade and a dredge for the chicken. The chicken marinates for 4 hours in a blend of toasted spices, buttermilk, serrano chiles, scallions, curry leaves, garlic, cayenne pepper, fresh ginger, lime juice, and salt. It’s then dredged in a mixture of ground toasted spices, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cayenne pepper. The marinated and dredged chicken is then fried for a few minutes.

The whole process was pretty easy. The frying took longer than I expected because it took 5 or 6 batches to get through all the chicken. I used a thermometer to monitor the oil temperature, which I don’t normally do, and I think it made a big difference in not overcooking the batter.

I made the dish in two ways: one as written in the recipe and one without any of the spicy hot ingredients. The final dish ended up hardly being spicy at all, so I don’t think I’ll need to specially accommodate the kids in the future.

The whole family loved it. I think it was the second best fried chicken I’ve ever made. (First place belongs to this Crispy Sichuan-Chili Chicken dish from Milk Street, which I would choose over any other fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life.) On the recipe’s recommendation, my wife and I tried it with the Spiced Maple-Vinegar Syrup from the Spiced Maple-Broiled Peaches recipe and with the Hot Green Chutney. It was delicious plain, with the syrup, and with the chutney. I will definitely make this chicken again.

I am cooking my way through Nik Sharma’s Season cookbook. Read more about it.