A breaded boneless chicken, that goes amazingly well with any side…
Sometimes, we learn the actual name of a dish in mysterious ways. There is this old restaurant in Ras Al Khaimah that serves something called “chicken cutlets”. B took us there, saying that the restaurant was very well known for it. I was wondering, now what is so special in that, since we love our cutlets. We settled in and he ordered in the usuals – of course, it wasn’t his first time. They served a flat piece of breaded chicken, along with a mayo dip and some khubbus. First bite of it and it was love… Hehe… Sounds cheesy? 😉 We have gone to that restaurant multiple times later but when we ask the name of the dish to the waiter, he would still say, “chicken cutlet”. A little bit research and I realized that he was right. A cutlet is a British term for a breaded chicken piece. So what is Schnitzel? It is the German name for the same thing, but can be made with fish and veal as well. So there you go… I am so upset for being confused for basically the same thing. Did you know that the Japanese have a similar version called “Katsu”? Talk about global cuisine… 🙂
This is my second post for the Blogging Marathon #140 theme of “Restaurant Specials”. This dish is so easy to make, that you will not want to eat it again at a restaurant paying such a hefty price. 😉 I have used boneless chicken thigh, since they are much juicier than breast pieces. Flatten the boneless chicken to at least 1/4 inch and keep all pieces equal so that they cook similarly. They are first dunk into the flour, then beaten egg and finally coated by breadcrumbs, usually panko, but I used regular one and it is fine. The simplest seasoning is just salt and pepper, but I used some more spices. Some recipes use Parmesan cheese mixed into the breadcrumbs, so if you do have it, then feel free to add in a few tablespoons. But let me tell you, even if you don’t add the cheese, once finally fried, it does taste cheesy. HD kept asking if I had added cheese and despite me telling him not, he just wouldn’t believe me. 😀 In fact, the first time I made these were in my sister’s kitchen, with the side of mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce, and I got asked the exact same question. Off to this simple recipe…
Chicken Schnitzel | Breaded Chicken Cutlets
Ingredients
- 500 gm boneless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 eggs whisked
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp black pepper powder
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Divide the chicken breasts into four equal pieces. Flatten each of the pieces using a rolling pin, close to 1/4 inch thickness for even cooking.
- Arrange in three plates - all purpose flour with little salt, the eggs and the flour whisked with all the spice powders and some salt.
- Heat enough oil to shallow fry. Keep a draining rack on a baking sheet ready to drain the chicken.
- Dunk one chicken piece into the flour. Dust off excess flour.
- Coat well with the whisked egg. Then dredge into the spiced breadcrumbs and coat all over, including the sides.
- Drop into the hot oil. Cook on medium low flame in order to cook the chicken well, making sure not to burn the sides, and flip to cook the other side. Make sure both sides are fried till golden brown.
- Drain onto the kitchen rack, and let the excess oil dip.
- Serve with salad or sides of choice.