Buttermilk Jerk Spiced Chicken by James Cochran

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and mix them with the buttermilk (you should be able to pick up some in most supermarkets; if you can't, you can make your own substitute: stir one tablespoon of lemon juice into 250ml milk, leave it to settle for 10 minutes and you're done) and spices (I like to use jerk spice but anything with a kick will work – mild curry, chilli, paprika, turmeric, garam masala, whatever you’ve got).

Season with salt and leave for six hours; the acid in the buttermilk will tenderise the chicken and allow the spice to penetrate into it.

Panne the chicken – start by mixing the bread crumbs with the flour. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs. Then dip the chicken in the egg mix, and coat with the flour and breadcrumb mix.

If you have a fryer, set it to 180°C. If you don’t, heat a deep saucepan with enough oil to fill it three-quarters of the way up, and get it nice and hot – a kitchen thermometer will be handy here.

Fry the chicken for six minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove the chicken and let it drain on kitchen paper.

Serve. I like to garnish with coriander, spring onion, peanuts and lots of Scotch bonnet chilli jam, but mayonnaise, mustard mayo, ketchup and yogurt with smoked paprika all work too, and if you’re not into coriander, parsley, basil, mint and tarragon would all do. For the nuts, you could also use corn nuts, almonds, cashews, or whatever you have in the cupboard. Serves two as a meal or four as a snack.