Make Fried Chicken Indiana-Style For A Spicier, Golden Crust

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The state of Indiana has earned its rightful place in American foodie history – "Honest" Abe Lincoln once dined at The Log Inn in Haubstadt, which still serves patrons today – but, come to find out, one of its most enduring contributions to the zeitgeist might be its fried chicken. Luckily, you don't have to travel to the Hoosier State to partake of this delectable poultry that distinguishes itself in both piquant flavor and inimitable golden coating. You can bring Indiana's fried chicken to life in your own kitchen with just a copious amount of black pepper and enough lard for deep-frying.

The first thing you'll notice, visually, about this fried chicken is how peppery it is. What you want is robust, coarse-ground black pepper with some weight and heft to the granules. You can achieve this by grinding whole peppercorns with a spice grinder (since you need an awful lot to grind with just a handheld mill), or, for convenience and uniformity of the grind, choose a product like McCormick's hand-harvested coarse black pepper, which is less than $10 on Amazon.

Although some Indiana restaurants have switched to canola oil for cost-effectiveness, Indiana fried chicken gets its distinct crisp and golden hue from frying in lard. We profiled the very famous Wagner's Village Inn when we covered the best fried chicken restaurants in every state, and Wagner's swears by lard frying. The biggest difference between frying in lard and frying in oil is that the solid lard must be melted before it can be brought to temp. For those worried about the best-possible taste, know that freshly-rendered lard is the way to go since it's non-hydrogenated. As is the case with oil, a thermometer is your best friend to help ensure the oil hits 350 degrees Fahrenheit and stays there. 

While some fried chicken recipes are deeply complex, the beauty — and, perhaps, the challenge — of Indiana fried chicken is that it's incredibly simple. Usually, no eggs are used in the coating; it's made of only flour. Some cooks don't even season the flour ... they just salt and (heavily) pepper the chicken. We've also seen a concession to extra breading made by dipping the floury chicken in plain water once to create a gluey basis for a second coat. Interestingly, celebrity chef Bobby Flay has a recipe for Indiana fried chicken that's loaded down with herbs and spices. We think that many purists might consider that to be culinary carpetbaggery. This isn't the time for adding ranch seasoning to fried chicken, even if we usually like that trick.

It's noteworthy that Harland "Colonel" Sanders of KFC fame was born in the southeastern part of Indiana that gave us Hoosier chicken. But, while the Colonel's chicken is heavy on the secret herbs and spices, Indiana fried chicken is sparing with the ingredients and instead relies on good techniques. You may find that you have to test out your methods a few times to really get the hang of perfect, flavorful chicken with so few components.

Like Maryland fried chicken, another regional speciality, Indiana fried chicken is often served with creamy gravy. While the Maryland version is concocted with milk, the classic Indiana recipe uses only crackles from the frying along with a water-flour slurry. You are obviously welcome to build upon this as you see fit. We'd probably err on the side of a dairy product to make the gravy richer, along with seasoning it with even more pepper.