The national happenings of this past month acted as a catalyst for me to connect deeper and understand wider the history and rich culture of my people. As I tweeted, I found a profound appreciation and deep pride that I come from a geographical region that is deeply attuned with the breadth and depth of the human experience. While colonialism stole a lot from us and erased an even greater magnitude of our history, whatever we managed to salvage and pass down is a precious golden string that ties us to the strength of those in the great beyond. And what a privilege it is to still practice what our foremothers did: to still have our naming ceremonies, to still know and use herbs that grow from the same soil that They once danced on, to still observe our sacred burial rites, to take pride in community as our sacred sanctuary, and to love as deeply as they did.
While we did manage to preserve a lot of our rich heritage, there are also some practices that we might be aware of but are deliberately shedding off. One of them is: Gizzard is a special part reserved for men only. It really is a dumb one, and I am thrilled that it is not practiced at all – or atleast not in our home or those who I know. Chickens have other phenomenal parts (I’d argue even better ones); however, today I would like for us to focus on my perfect curry garlic crispy gizzards that I know you will fall in love with!
PREP TIME: 24h COOK TIME: 25min SERVES: 3
Ingredients
800g of Gizzards
Vegetable oil for frying
To Marinate
1 cup of unsweetened mala
1 tablespoon of minced finger
2 minced garlic cloves
1 sprig of rosemary
For the coating
1.5 cups of self-raising flour
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of onion powder
1 tablespoon of coriander powder
1 tablespoon of curry powder
Salt to taste
Method
My sister was coming over with my toto Nephew and I decided to make something quick and super delish for lunch. My planning started a day prior, and this involved purchasing and marinating the gizzards. I purchased my gizzards from Carrefour. They came pretty well packaged and also decently cleaned however, I recommend giving them another rinse just to ensure all granules are released.
In a bowl containing your gizzards, add all the marination ingredients. The mala is important for this recipe because the acidity softens the gizzards. Additionally, ensure you use unsweetened mala for this as sweetened mala would introduce sugar into a recipe that does not call for sweetness. In place of mala, you can use Amasi/Kefir/buttermilk.
Mix them all together, cover with cling film and allow this to sit overnight. This allows for the flavors to sink in brilliantly and intensely too.
Next day, allow the bowl’s contents to sit on the countertop to come to room temp and prepare the coating. The reason that they must come up to room temp is so that they cook evenly and give you a perfect texture at the end of it all.
Mix in all the ingredients of the coating along with abit of salt to taste. We use self-raising flour for this because it puffs up abit when cooked and this makes the coating bouncier and crispier.
Take the gizzards and dip them into the seasoned flour until thickly coated then proceed to fry until crispy.
I understand that some people may prefer to boil the gizzards first before coating and frying. That is a different method that cannot be applied to this particular recipe, but it is not a wrong method – only a different one. I find that gizzards fry/cook pretty fast, just like any other chicken part, and this recipe worked very well.
Ensure your oil is hot enough to facilitate perfect frying. This should be about 180C. This ensures that the gizzards cook tenderly inside and the coating turns nice and golden and marvellously crispy without burning.
If the oil is tepid, the coating gets soggy, and if the oil is too hot, the coating will burn too quick while leaving the inside raw.
Once golden, serve. How amazing do these look OMG???
I love how the flavor of the marinade was beautifully taken up by the gizzards. The coating was not only a beautiful golden treat for the eyes, but an equally wonderful treat for the tongue with the prominent flavors of curry, onion and paprika really coming through. I loved the textural contrast of the tender meaty center against that of the crispy exterior. The overall flavor for this particular gizzard recipe is one you will forever be beholden to!
For the sake of this blog/video, I decided to serve mine with my roasted garlic & honey aioli, and later on, after I concluded creating, I made some fried plantain and kachumbari to accompany this and make a full meal. They however can go with any other carb and veggie pairing of your liking.
I am so excited for you to try out this recipe and once you do, do let me know your favorite part about it! I love love love hearing from you guys. As always, there is a complimentary YouTube video which explains everything just as well as this write-up, and it is a great visual that takes you step by step.
Happy Wednesday!
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Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
You write so beautifully- i enjoyed that opening paragraph (and i sorta feel like rooting into my own Meru heritage & learning more). I’ll give this recipe a shot!!
Thank you! I hope you meet all the love as you delve deep into your own history! Plus, Enjoy the recipeeee 💛!
I have been literally PRAYING for a gizzard recipe, glad the OG came through with a bomb one!!! Thank you for this!!
The day certainly arrived 💛!!! You will love this one
Can i use breadcrumbs for this coating instead of flour?
This recipe benefits form the extra puffiness that self-raising flour provides, so it must be part of the recipe for you to get the exact results 💛
I opted for a 2 hour marination because i wanted to have these for dinner today today today! My hubbs drinks alot of Kefir, so i used that to marinate. The frying was quick and the result was tender! We ate ours with coleslaw, creamed spinach, roasted potateoes and grilled carrots – it was marvellous!
Thanks for the recipe, much love from Durban
OMG I am salivating at how well you served the crispy gizzard! Even more thrillied that you & yours enjoyed this recipe. I am glad kefir came through for you and offered that rich benefit of marinating the gizzards! Cheers to many more, Sandra!
I made these for dinner. I nearly skipped the marination but thank god i did not because i feel that was the game changer. I was home by 4 with my ingredients, and they marinated for 4 hours. Fried them up, ate with Ugali and creamy spinach and it was fantastic!!
I am also happy you stuck to the recipe exactly as required, the marination is a gamechanger and I am happy you feel the same way about it 💛
I bought a batch last evening, marinated then fried some today midmorning for my sonshine’s post-swimming snack. I wanted to retain the crispy coating texture so i kept them in a container with a lid tgat lets out air and the dip i put in a separate container. Needless to say, he inhaled all of them and said its the best gizzard ‘surprise’ he has ever had! They are now on monthly rotation in my home! Thank you for this Kaluhi!
You are most welcome Mildred 💛!! It is so exciting to see how differently everyone is trying these gizzards out – how you did it as a on-the-go finger food is genius! Even more exciting that you boy put his stamp of approval on them!