Chicken pakora is a quick Indian appetizer made with gram flour, chicken, spices & herbs. These are amazing to serve for parties with some green chutney or masala tea.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 250 grams (½ lb) chicken (boneless strips or cubes)
  • ¼ cup onion ((optional) fine chopped or sliced very thin)
  • 1 to 2 green chilies (chopped (optional))
  • ¾ tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or crushed)
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon red chili powder ((reduce for kids))
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric ((haldi))
  • ⅓ teaspoon Salt ((adjust to taste))
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves (or 2 tbsps mint leaves or coriander leaves chopped)
  • 6 tablespoon besan ((gram flour) (¼ cup + 2 tbsps))
  • 3 tablespoon rice flour (or cornstarch)
  • 1 egg white ((for substitute, read notes))
  • 2 tablespoon water ((you may need more))
  • Oil (to deep fry)

Method

Preparation

  1. Add besan, rice flour, salt, turmeric, chilli powder & garam masala to a bowl.
  2. Mix well and taste test. Add more salt if needed.
  3. Next add ginger garlic, onions, curry leaves & green chilies.
  4. Cut chicken to thin strips or cubes of 1 by ¾ inch.
  5. Add them to the bowl along with egg white.
  6. Mix everything well adding water only as needed to make a thick stiff mixture.
  7. The mixture must be thick and not loose like batter.

How to make Chicken Pakora

  1. On a medium flame, heat oil in a deep pan/kadai for deep frying. Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small portion of dough. It has to sizzle & rise slowly without browning. Regulate the flame to medium.
  2. Slide the chicken pieces to the hot oil one after the other.
  3. Do not crowd the pan as the chicken needs enough space to swim and get cooked.
  4. Avoid touching them for 2 mins, Later begin to stir and fry the chicken pakora until golden and crisp.
  5. Remove to a steel colander or cooling rack. Fry the rest of the chicken in batches. If you want you may refry them again.
  6. Serve crispy chicken pakora as a appetizer with green chutney or masala tea.

Air Fryer Chicken Pakora

  1. Preheat the air fryer at 180 c or 360 F for 10 mins. Grease the basket well. Place chicken pieces in the basket, spacing them apart. Air fry for 5 to 6 mins. turn them to the other side and repeat for another 5 to 6 mins.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.