The great thing about this recipe is that you can either fry or cook in the oven. Both taste great.

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
250ml buttermilk OR 235ml milk and 15ml lemon juice, stirred and left for 10 minutes to thicken
250g flour  
40g polenta*
1 litre of oil if frying

Spice Mix 
½ tsp salt 
1 tbsp celery salt 
2 tsp garlic powder 
½ tsp dried thyme 
½ tsp dried basil 
½ tsp dried oregano 
1 tsp ground black pepper 
1 tbsp mustard powder 
2 tbsp paprika 
1 tsp ground ginger 
1 tsp chilli powder (optional) 

* use the polenta if you are oven baking

Method
Put the spice mix either into a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, grind until smooth. 

You should be able to cut your chicken breast so it opens out like a book, slice through so you have two pieces. 

Take 1 tbsp of the mix and put into the buttermilk, put your chicken in the buttermilk and marinate for at least an hour if you can. 

Preheat the oven to 200c with your baking tray inside the oven. If you are frying then gently heat the oil in a wok or large pan. 

Put the remaining spice mix, flour (and polenta if you are oven baking) into a large bowl. 

Take a piece of chicken and carefully shake off the excess buttermilk with one hand.  Put your chicken in the bowl and with your clean hand cover your chicken with the seasoned flour and put to one side.  Repeat until all chicken is covered. 

If cooking in the oven, take out your tray from the oven and cover with baking parchment.   Put the chicken on while still hot and immediately put back into the oven.  Turn after 10 minutes. 

If cooking in oil, test the temperature with a clump of buttermilk flour, drop into the oil, it should immediately float and start to sizzle.  Cook your chicken in batches, and when each batch is cooked, place in the oven while you finish off cooking the rest of the chicken pieces.  

- I served this with Rhona’s coleslaw