Chicken Pakora Recipe (Chicken Pakoda)
Updated: April 21, 2023, By Swasthi
Make crispy crunchy Chicken Pakora under 25 minutes. These golden fried Chicken Pakora are the ultimate winner anytime!! They are perfectly crispy and crunchy on the outside while remaining incredibly tender & juicy inside. Bite into these Chicken Pakora and be amazed at the flavors!
We usually serve them with Chai. Actually these Chicken Pakora are so good that you donโt need any sides & can be eaten on their own.
But they go well with these sides – Spicy Garlic chutney, Kabab Mint Chutney, Cilantro Chutney or Green Chutney.
Pakora are an all-time classic favorite in the Indian-Subcontinent. Numerous variations exist from the most popular Onion Pakoda, Bread pakora, Paneer Pakora, Chicken Pakoda to the lesser known Fish Pakora.
About Chicken Pakora
Chicken Pakora are a popular street food and an appetizer where chunks of tender chicken is batter fried to perfection, until golden and crisp.
There are different ways to make these. Here I share my Momโs Andhra Style recipe to make the crispiest Chicken Pakora. The North Indian style pakoras are usually made by dipping the chicken in a thick batter before deep frying.
But My Momโs version is made in a different way, where we sprinkle all the ingredients over the chicken and coat well. Minimum amount of liquid like egg white, Indian buttermilk or yogurt are added to bind the dry ingredients.
This kind of Chicken Pakora are fantastic โ crispy & crunchy on the outside, tender & juicy from inside.
More Chicken Recipes,
Chilli Chicken
Chicken 65
Crispy Chicken Nuggets
Chicken Patties
Popcorn Chicken
Photo Guide
How to make Chicken Pakora (Stepwise Photos)
Preparation
1. Add the following ingredients to a large mixing bowl:
- 6 tablespoon besan (gram flour) (ยผ cup + 2 tbsps)
- 3 tablespoon rice flour or cornstarch
- โ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ยผ teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
- ยพ to 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (reduce for kids)
- ยพ to 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ยพ tablespoon ginger garlic paste or crushed
Mix well and taste test. Add more salt and spice as required. It should taste slightly salty.
2. Next add the following
- ยพ tablespoon ginger garlic paste or crushed ginger garlic
- 1 to 2 green chilies chopped (optional)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves or 2 tbsps mint leaves or coriander leaves chopped
- ยผ cupย onionย (optional) fine chopped/sliced very thin
3. Chop 250 grams (ยฝ lb) boneless chicken to uniform bite sized pieces. Add it here. After a good rinse I drained the water completely and added it.
4. Pour 1 egg white. (read pro-tips below for egg substitute)
5. Begin to mix adding water only as needed. I add about 3 tbsps water. This may vary depending on the chicken and the size of egg.
6. Towards the end of this step, chicken should be well coated with the pakora mixture. The mixture has to be stiff – dough like and not like batter. Too mush moisture in the pakora mixture can make your chicken pakora soft and not crunchy.
Fix : You can add few tablespoons of flour in the same ratios to fix the excess moisture.
Fry Chicken Pakora
7. Heat oil in a deep pan/ kadai. Check if the temperature is right by sliding in little dough. It has to sizzle and rise to the surface without browning quickly. This is the right temperature.
Slide the chicken bites gently to the hot oil one after the other. Regulate the flame to medium to medium high.
It is very normal for the chicken pieces to stick up to each other in the mixing bowl. Just remove each piece of chicken and coat it well with the pakora mixture and slide them to the oil.
8. After a minute or 2, stir and fry them until golden and crisp.
9. Once done remove the chicken pakora to a steel colander or cooling rack. Fry the entire chicken in batches following the same method. Ensure the oil is hot enough before frying a new batch of chicken.
Each piece of chicken takes a different time to fry. So it is best to monitor each one of them and remove when they are done.
Serve chicken pakora hot with a cup of masala chai. Sprinkle some chaat masala if you like.
Serving Suggestions
These chicken pakora are so good on their own and don’t need any accompaniment. A cup of hot masala tea is what we all love with these. My kids go with a generous sprinkle of chaat masala.
In restaurants you can find a variety of condiments served with these like green chutney, ketchup or even kabab mint chutney.
You can just go ahead and serve these plain just like the way we do. I am sure you will enjoy every bit of them.
Pro-Tips
Chicken: Chop the chicken to bite sized pieces – 1 by ยพ inch size. Keep them as uniform as possible. This helps to fry the chicken evenly.
Flour: Rice flour or corn flour is the key to make these chicken pakora crisp. Do not skip it. If you do not use both then just go ahead using millet flour.
This recipe will give you crisp pakora, altering the ratio of besan to rice flour or corn flour may not give the same texture.
Herbs: We love these chicken pakora with lots of curry leaves & pudina. Both these flavor up the chicken pakora a lot. If you do not have both then use coriander leaves.
Ginger garlic onion: Avoid using too much onion as it begins to release lots of moisture and your pakoras won’t be as crispy.
More tips
Egg white: I use an egg white to help lock the chicken juices. It prevents the chicken from turning dry, hard & chewy. However you can skip the egg if using brined chicken or young bird.
Egg substitute: Just add 4 tablespoons of yogurt to ยฝ cup of water and whisk it. Add the chicken bites to it and allow to rest for 2 hours to overnight in the fridge. Drain the chicken completely and use in the recipe. Other substitute to egg is to just add 3 tablespoons of yogurt to the pakora mixture.
Moisture: Egg white and water are used to bind the dry ingredients with chicken. Please note that too much moisture can make your chicken pakora soft and not crunchy.
By any chance if the mixture turns soggy then add little flour and fix it. Do not fry the soggy mixture as the pakora turn too soft.
Frying: Always fry chicken pakora in moderately hot oil on a medium flame.
Frying them in extremely hot or smoking oil will brown them too quickly from outside without cooking inside. Next frying them on a low flame will make the chicken pakora hard, chewy and rubbery.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Chicken Pakora Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 250 grams (ยฝ lb) chicken boneless strips or cubes
- ยผ cup onion (optional) fine chopped or sliced very thin
- 1 to 2 green chilies chopped (optional)
- ยพ tablespoon ginger garlic paste or crushed
- ยพ to 1 teaspoon red chili powder (reduce for kids)
- ยพ to 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ยผ teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
- โ teaspoon Salt (adjust to taste)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves or 2 tbsps mint leaves or coriander leaves chopped
- 6 tablespoon besan (gram flour) (ยผ 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
Instructions
Preparation
- Add besan, rice flour, salt, turmeric, chilli powder & garam masala to a bowl.
- Mix well and taste test. Add more salt if needed.
- Next add ginger garlic, onions, curry leaves & green chilies.
- Cut chicken to thin strips or cubes of 1 byย ยพ inch.ย
- Add them to the bowl along with egg white.ย
- Mix everything well adding water only as needed to make a thick stiff mixture.
- The mixture must be thick and not loose like batter.
How to make Chicken Pakora
- 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.ย It has to sizzle & rise slowly without browning. Regulate the flame to medium.
- Slide the chicken pieces to the hot oil one after the other.ย
- Do not crowd the pan as the chicken needs enough space to swim and get cooked.
- Avoid touching them for 2 mins, Later begin to stir and fry the chicken pakora until golden and crisp.
- Remove to a steel colander or cooling rack. Fry the rest of the chicken in batches. If you want you may refry them again.
- Serve crispy chicken pakora as a appetizer with green chutney or masala tea.
Air Fryer Chicken Pakora
- 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.
Notes
- Do not fry these in very hot oil, as they will turn brown without cooking inside.
- Egg helps the chicken to retain the juices & keep it succulent without drying up. If you want to skip the egg, brine/soak your chicken in buttermilk (1/4 cup yogurt with 1/4 cup water) for a minimum of 2 hours to overnight in the refrigerator.ย
- If making for parties: Once all the chicken pakoras are done frying, refry all the pakoras in batches for 1 to 2 mins to keep them extra crisp.ย
- You can also crisp these in a preheated oven by placing them on a wired rack.
- I used only 3 tbsps water for the dough. This may vary depending on the size of the egg & chicken.ย Adding too much water to your dough can make the chicken pakora soft and not crispy.
Video
Watch Chicken Pakora Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
ยฉ Swasthi’s Recipes
Chicken Pakora Recipe first published in January 2013. Updated in April 2023.
About Swasthi
Iโm Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโs Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Taste lovely thank you
Be careful with crushed onions as they expel alot of water. This necessitated adding more flour and cornstarch at the end as the mixture was too wet and would not stay on the chicken. Did not need water. Looked the same as the pic before frying. This may or may not have been the reason it didn’t feel very crispy. Used equal parts fresh ginger and garlic. Otherwise, the chicken was juicy and quite tasty.
Hi Philip,
The recipe called for 1 medium onion – crushed/chopped/sliced. I guess the size of your medium onion is much bigger than the one I use. That would have added too much moisture, causing the pakoras to remain softer. I have edited to convert that to cups. So next time it won’t be a problem. Thank you for letting me know!
Hi Swasthi,
Is Garlic and Ginger paste literally just those ground in a grounder or is salt, or oil added too? Iโd like to make a jar or two of it as I seem to be using quite a lot of both recently. ๐
Paul
Hi Paul,
Yes it is just ginger and garlic together with oil. I don’t use salt. Start with equal quantities of ginger and garlic (peeled). If it turns out bitter or too gingery, add more garlic. A trial and error works best for proportions. I have the complete post here – ginger garlic paste.
Hi can you follow the recipe with any meat?
Chicken pakora recipe was amazing and the results are mouthwatering! Thank you?
I have fixed this Pakora chicken for my family several times and they love it,matter of fact I have to make a batch tonight. This is a great dish and we love it.
So glad to know Stella. Thanks for sharing back how it turns out for you.
This was amazing! I am not from Andhra but my husband is and when his relatives came they demanded for some chicken pakoras and thanks to your recipe this was a success even the very first time of trying it. In fact I depend a lot on your recipes all the time and especially if I need to make Andhra cuisine. Lots of love
Glad to know Jeni. Thank you so much! That makes me happy.
Perfection
Thanks Kavitha
Wasnโt sure with the thick batter but it worked perfectly. Really crispy with soft chicken. Had the kids eating it but next time, Iโll add chilliesโฆ. Really nice
Thanks for trying Simon. Glad you like them
This was so amazing, cooked in air fryer, 6 min on each side as recommended. Mam Swasthi thank you so much, all your recipes are just spot on and super yummy.
Glad to know they came out good. Thanks Marga for trying the recipes.
I am obsessed, this is the best pakora recipe I’ve come across.
Thanks Cassandra
Great recipe
Thanks Shruti
Can this be made in an air fryer?
Yes you can. 180 C for 5 to 6 mins. Toss them and repeat.
Can i do these pakoras in a deep fat frier? What approx. temp of oil would you recommend?
I haven’t tried it any time
Hi, can I prepare the mixture a day before and just fry on the day itโs needed?
Will making the marinade and mixing it all up still be fine stored in the fridge?
Hi Sheila,
Not sure if they will still turn crisp
Aww okay. Thank you for replying x
Hi can i add maida instead of rice/corn flour?
Hi Rifa,
For best crunch corn starch or rice flour is recommended. I haven’t tried with maida any time. But it should work.
I appreciate your work and your doing
Thank you!
hello,
can you tell me what is your one serving size for recipes.
i.e. it is 200 gm or 250 gm or something else?
Hi Neha
It depends on the recipe. Whether deep fried, curried or baked
Nice
Thank you
my chicken pakoda turning very hard why. do i need to cook the chicken before making pakoda?
Hi Savithri
If the chicken is not tender/ young then it turns very hard. If you fry on a low flame for long time then also chicken may turn hard.
If you want to get the chicken pakoda soft, then add egg white as i mentioned in the recipe. OR Brine the chicken in buttermilk and keep it in fridge for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the chicken from buttermilk and use in the recipe. They will come soft
Iess time taking and Tammy recipe