Why Do You Cut Off The End Of The Chicken Leg For My Mother's Praised Chicken?

Asked by vjsilkpainter. Answered on 7th April 2025

Full question

Why do you cut off the end of the drumstick bones when making your mother's praised chicken? Does it really affect the recipe, or is it just because your mother made it that way? Does it fit in the pan better?

My Mother's Praised Chicken

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's My Mother's Praised Chicken (from KITCHEN) gently poaches chicken and vegetables. The moist and tender chicken flesh and cooked vegetables are then served with rice and doused with some of the flavoursome broth.

Nigella cuts the very ends off the chicken legs just below the end joint of the drumstick. This part tends to poke out of the cooking liquid and can also get in the way of the lid of the pot, so it is easier to cut them off and add to the cooking liquid instead (at step 3). If you have a very large pot then you could probably leave them on, but be careful not to add too much water to the pot (just enough to cover the chicken), otherwise the broth could be too diluted.