Delicious classic Indian delight, Crispy Chicken Pakora recipe made with tender chicken thigh, crispy gram flour batter and a handful of cupboard-friendly spices. Create the most popular takeaway favourite appetizer at home with this simple recipe.
If you love Indian restaurants and takeaways style appetizers you must try out our Fish Pakora and King Prawn Butterfly recipes.
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Why you would love this recipe?
It's so easy to prepare and all the ingredients used can be bought at local supermarkets or grocery stores. You can whip up a big batch of pakoras without much hassle with this straightforward recipe. This chicken pakora gives both crispy and tender results. The outside coating is crispy and the inside meat is moist and tender.
You can tailor the protein, and flavours to your taste when you make it at home. If you prefer it mild you can omit chillies or if you love extra spice, you can add more chillies.
A great way to try something new, if you are tired of the same old fried chicken recipes. This dish will definitely impress your family and dinner guests!
What is Chicken Pakora?
Pakora is a popular Indian appetizer snack also known as pakoda. You can either make it with vegetables, chicken, fish, prawns, or a choice of protein. Chicken pakora is a battered chicken made with gram flour, spices, and water, and deep-fried to crispy golden perfection.
It's typically served as a savoury snack, an appetizer, or a side dish. It perfectly goes well with a dipping sauce like Raita, Indian onion salad and a Chai tea. Perfect finger food to serve at parties, gatherings, and celebrations. You can make them ahead in big batches and save them for later use.
Even though chicken pakora is a deep-fried food, it's so tasty, satisfying, and nutritious. Rich in fibre, protein, vitamins, and minerals. This a perfect recipe to try out if you are craving crispy fried chicken but with different flavours.
What do we need
Following is a quick guide with photos and you can find detailed measurements on the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Chicken - I love to use boneless skinless chicken thigh. You can also use chicken breast, fish fillets, prawns, vegetables, etc.
Batter ingredients - Gram flour, cornstarch, and baking soda are essential to make the best pakora batter. You will need a splash of cold water to achieve the sticky thick batter texture.
Fresh herbs - You will need freshly grated garlic, ginger, and finely chopped green chillies.
Dry spices - Chilli powder, turmeric, cumin ( jeera ), garam masala, and Kasuri methi ( dried fenugreek leaves ) are added to season the pakoras.
How to make it
- First cut the chicken into small bite-size pieces and place them in the large mixing bowl.
- Add garlic paste, ginger paste, chilli powder, turmeric, cumin powder, curry powder, dried fenugreek leaves, lime juice, and salt to taste.
- Mix it well, cover it, and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Next, add gram flour, cornstarch, and baking soda to the marinated chicken.
- Add water gradually and combine everything well, until it forms a smooth, thick, sticky batter. Set it aside for 10 mins.
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, drop the chicken pieces using a spoon.
- Fry the chicken pakoras for 3-4 minutes or the inside meat is fully cooked and the batter is crispy golden brown.
- Remove them from the oil and transfer them to a cooling rack or a paper towel. Serve with yoghurt mint sauce or a choice of dipping sauce.
Top Tips
- You might not need to use up all the water. It's important to add gradually and only add more water if needed.
- The batter texture should be thick and sticky. Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding more gram flour or water. If the batter is too thick you can add a splash of water. If the batter is watery you can add more gram flour.
- You can check the oil temperature by adding a small scoop of batter or by using a wooden spoon. If it is hot enough, the oil will sizzle rapidly and is ready to fry.
- Do not overcrowd the pan and fry the pakoras in batches.
- Between batches, clear the frying oil and remove crumbs by using a mesh strainer.
- Cut the chicken pieces uniformly into small bite-size pieces and not very big chunks, so that they cook evenly.
- Add extra spices: To add an extra kick of flavour, you can also add dried crushed chilli flakes, finely chopped curry leaves, or fresh coriander in the batter mix.
- Make sure to add cold water and do not add warm water for the best crispy coating result.
- Rest the batter for at least 15 minutes before frying. This will allow the batter to absorb the flavour, become thicker, and easier to handle.
FAQ
Use high smoke point neutral flavour oil like sunflower, canola, vegetable, peanut oil, etc. These oils are commonly used for deep frying and they don't overpower the flavour of the food.
It tastes best when freshly fried and crispy but you can easily make it ahead by preparing the batter and storing it in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
You can fry it again in the hot oil for 1-2 minutes or reheat it in the (375° F/190°C) pre-heated air-fryer or in the oven.
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Easy Chicken Pakora
Ingredients
Chicken & marinade
- 400 gram Chicken thigh Boneless chicken thigh or breast ( About 14 oz )
- 1 tbsp Garlic paste Grated garlic
- 2 tsp Ginger paste Grated ginger
- 2-3 Green chillies Cut thin slices ( optional )
- 1 tsp Kasuri Methi Dried fenugreek leaves ( optional )
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Chilli powder or paprika powder
- 1 tsp Cumin powder Zeera or jeera powder
- 1 tsp Garam masala or curry powder
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice Or lime juice
- 1½ tsp Salt Or salt to taste
Batter ingredients
- 8-10 tbsp Gram flour Or chickpea flour
- 4-6 tbsp Corn starch Or rice flour
- ¼ tsp Baking soda Or baking powder
- 2-3 tbsp Water Add more water if needed
Other ingredients
- Oil for frying Vegetable or neutral flavour oil
- Coriander for garnish
Instructions
- First cut the chicken into small bite-size pieces and place them in the large mixing bowl.
- Add garlic paste, ginger paste, chilli powder, turmeric, cumin powder, curry powder, green chillies, dried fenugreek leaves, lime juice, and salt to taste. Mix it well and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Next, add gram flour, cornstarch, and baking soda into the marinated chicken. Add water gradually and combine everything well, until it forms a smooth, thick, and sticky batter. Set it aside for 10 mins.
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, drop the chicken pieces by using a spoon.
- Fry the chicken pakoras for 3-4 minute or the inside meat is fully cooked and the batter is crispy golden brown.
- Remove them from oil and transfer to a cooling rack or a paper towel. Serve with yoghurt mint sauce or a choice of dipping sauce.
Video
Notes
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- Dipping sauce - serve with yoghurt mint sauce, hot chilli sauce, sweet chilli sauce, tamarind sauce, or a choice of dipping sauce.
- Gram flour substitute - is also known as chana dal flour. You can use chickpea flour ( Besan ) as a substitute for this recipe.
- Cornstarch - You can use rice flour instead of cornstarch.
- Do not need to add all water at once. It's important to add gradually and only add more water if needed.
- The batter texture should be thick and sticky. Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding more gram flour or water. If the batter is too thick you can add a splash of water. If the batter is watery you can add more gram flour.
- Do not overcrowd the pan and fry the pakoras in batches.
- Make sure to add cold water and do not add warm water for the best crispy coating result.
- Rest the batter for at least 10 minutes before frying. This will allow the batter to absorb the flavour, become thicker, and be easier to handle.
- If you like restaurant-style red colour chicken pakora, add a few drops of red food colouring to the batter mixture.
- Frying oil - Use high smoke point oil like sunflower, canola, vegetable, peanut oil, etc.
- Reheating - in the microwave is not recommended. Fry them again in the hot oil until crispy or reheat them in the (375° F/190°C) preheated air fryer or oven for 3-5 mins or until crispy.
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