Smashed avocado with crispy chicken, pickled onions & tortillas

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 large, very ripe avocados
• juice 1 lemon
• 8 seeded soft tortillas, or your favourite flatbreads, warmed
• small bunch coriander, to serve

For the onions

• 1 large red onion, very thinly sliced
• 100ml red wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp caster sugar

For the chicken

• 4 skinless chicken breasts, each cut into 3-4 chunky strips
• 284ml pot buttermilk
• 85g polenta or cornmeal
• 85g plain flour
• 1 tbsp sesame seed
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp garlic salt (or normal salt)
• sunflower oil, for shallow-frying
•   Prep: 50 mins Cook: 25 mins Plus marinating
  Easy
  Serves 4 
  
  

  Method

  1. Mix the chicken strips with the buttermilk and chill for about half a day.
  2. Mix all the onion ingredients, season with salt and set aside to marinate for at least 30 mins or up to half a day.
  3. Mix together the polenta or cornmeal, flour, sesame seeds, paprika, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and garlic salt on a plate. Heat 2cm sunflower oil in a deep frying pan (or slightly more in a big wok) until a cube of bread browns in 1 min. Lift the chicken from the buttermilk and drop into the flour mix, tossing to coat well. Add about 3 chicken strips at a time to the oil and fry, turning, until golden on all sides and just cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper while you fry the rest
  4. .Halve and stone each avocado, scrape out the flesh into a bowl with the lemon juice and some seasoning, and very roughly smash together with the back of a spoon. Spread over the warm tortillas or flatbreads, top with the crispy chicken, pickled onions and some coriander, and roll up to tuck in.