Gluten & egg free chicken schnitzel

When you think of chicken schnitzel, the first thing that comes to mind is the crisp coating giving away to the soft interior. Before I commenced my elimination diet, chicken schnitzel or chicken Parma were one of our family favourites . Hence, I was really keen to find a way to make them within the parameters of my diet.

The key to the success lies in the three stage crumbling, whether you use the traditional plain flour, egg or bread crumbs or as in my case, rice flour, slurry made out of egg replacer powder (I even added a pinch of turmeric to resemble the egg wash) and corn crumbs. You can also use rice crumbs. In addition to the crumbling ingredients, you will need salt, pepper, oil, and chicken breasts.

I use organic, free range chicken and cut each breast into three, first I remove the tenderloin and then slice the chicken breast from the middle ( the thickest part) into two. If you leave the ends connected, you get the trademark heart shape, which is sold in the supermarkets but I cut it all the way through as I find it easier to cook. Next, I use a meat mallet to flatten the pieces out, ensuring they are the same thickness all through, which ensures that the entire piece will cook at the same time. Once all the chicken is prepared, set up the crumbling station. You need two plates and a shallow bowl big enough to fit the chicken pieces. In the first plate add rice flour. In the shallow bowl make a slurry of the egg replacer powder ( the quantity will depend on the amount of chicken you are using). I used two chicken breasts and used two heaped teaspoons of the egg replacer powder mixed with some water and a pinch of turmeric. In the last plate,  add the corn or rice crumbs and season them with salt and white pepper.

Dust the chicken breast with the rice flour, covering both sides, dunk it in the egg replacer mixture covering both sides and finally cover with the corn crumbs, ensuring the entire breast is well coved.
Follow the process with all the chicken pieces. You can choose to deep fry the schnitzels at this point, but I prefer to pan fry them in a non stick pan. I use rice bran oil as it has a high smoking point. Get the non stick pan really hot, add enough oil to over the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Add the chicken pieces cooking each side on high heat for 1 minute and them lowering the heat. Cook for about 6-8 minutes, until the schnitzels are golden brown and the insides are cooked to your preference. I serve mine with a simple green salad and some corn cobs brushed with garlic infused oil. For my husband, I placed some chopped seasoned tomatoes and grated cheese on top of the schnitzel and place in under a hot grill, until the cheese melts.

Serve hot with your favourite condiments.