Chicken Pakora | How To Make Chicken Pakora

Chicken pakora or chicken pakoda as we call is a crispy snack or a starter that pairs so well with a cup of piping hot tea or coffee or even with lemonades. I love pairing it with rice and rasam also. To make chicken pakora you need very common ingredients that will be readily available in your pantry. The best part of this recipe is it does not suck in oil and also is very crispy even without any additives like baking soda, which they use in the shops and restaurants to retain the crispiness. You cannot store these chicken pakoras beyond a day, if you want to make them ahead for a large crowd, just prepare the batter, then toss the chicken into it and freeze until use. Before use remove from refrigerator and fry after it reaches room temperature. After frying, it should be consumed within a day or two, prolonged storage is not possible with chicken pakoras.  I have used corn flour and gram flour to make these;  here besan (aka gram flour) gives the authentic pakora taste and aroma. Some restaurants serve chicken pakora as chicken 65 but I firmly believe that both recipes are different in several ways, chicken pakora has a different taste and texture. It is not spice loaded but is a subtle snack like recipe unlike the famous chicken 65.  Now lets see how to make this crispy dish. 

I have also posted the video recipe on youtube, little one helped me shoot the video by doing tad little things. Have included the video below in the preparation part! Do check out the video if interested :)

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2 to 3 people

Total Preparation Time - 30 minutes

1. Chicken - 125 grams or 3/4 cup (boneless chopped into small pieces) 
2. Gram flour - 1/2 cup 
3. Corn flour - 1/2 cup 
4. Egg - 1 
5. Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons 
6. Cumin powder - 3/4 teaspoon 
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
8. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon 
9. Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon 
10. Ginger garlic paste - 2 teaspoons 
11. Curry leaves - From 2 sprigs 
12. Coriander leaves - 3 teaspoons chopped 
13. Mint leaves - 1 teaspoon (optional) 
14. Salt - 1/2 teaspoon (or as per taste) 
15. Oil - To deep fry the pakoras 

PREPARATION METHOD

• Wash chicken pieces well in water and chop into small bite sized cubes. Wash again and keep aside. 
• Beat an egg slightly and use half of it to make the batter. 
• To a mixing bowl add all the ingredients (gram flour, corn flour, half of a slightly beaten egg, red chilli powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, chopped coriander and mint leaves and salt) except oil and chicken. Add about 75 to 100 ml of water and mix well. 
• It should be a thick paste like batter. Just make sure you don't add too much water, add little by little if you are not sure. (Batter should not drip off the chicken easily if so add a little more gram flour to thicken it) 
• To this batter add chicken pieces and mix well. Leave aside. (If not using immediately refrigerate or freeze them, then remove from refrigerator and thaw them before use) 
• Place a frying pan on flame and pour enough oil to deep fry the pakoras. 
• After it heats up well, gently drop in the chicken pieces and fry on low flame until it turns golden and crispy. 
• Make sure you fry until the sizzling sound ceases, which ensure you that the chicken inside has got cooked well. 
• Serve immediately as it might turn soggy after it turns cold. 

TIP 1: To make it stay crispy for a long time, follow this method. Fry the pakoras until half done. Then remove from flame and keep aside. Then fry again until it turns golden. This method gives helps retain crispiness for a long time. 

TIP 2: I have not added food color, but if you like you can add few pinches of red or orange food color too. 

TIP 3: If your pakoras were not crispy enough and turned soggy as soon as you removed from the stove, it means that you have not fried it enough. Make sure you always fry on low flame and also until the sizzling sound settles down as in the video. This lets you know that the insides have also got cooked well. Under-cooked pakora and meat will have water content inside it, which will make the pakora layer soggy or soft. 

TIP 4: If the batter came off the chicken or if the pakoras were very oily or if the pakoras gets stuck in your pan it means that you have added more water to the batter. When you lift the chicken pieces the batter should not drip or fall swiftly. Add more flour to rectify and then proceed with the rest. If the batter still keeps coming off it might be because the oil is not hot enough, make sure to drop a piece of batter into the oil to see if its hot enough, the batter should come up immediately, if not the batter has to be heated up a little more. 

TIP 5: You can add 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala to the batter to give it an additional flavor, but I kept it subtle enough to taste like pakoras. 

For other chicken recipes click here