What is Chicken Pakora?
Pakora is a fried fritter. Pakora can be made using many ingredients like onion, potato, paneer, cauliflower, or like in this case, chicken! They’re a bit like Indian chicken nuggets (but much more flavorful, crispy, and juicy than your run-of-the-mill chicken nugget).
Where does this recipe come from?
This delicious recipe originally comes from India. It is a popular street food in India and Pakistan.
Is Chicken Pakora an appetizer or main dish?
Most of the time, Chicken Pakora is served as an appetizer or snack (however, in our case, we thought it was so good, we ate it for a main dish for dinner!). It is popular at Indian weddings and often served with chai masala.
Is Chicken Pakora spicy?
Traditionally, yes, this is often a spicy recipe. However, since you’re the chef (which means “boss” in French), you can make it however you like in your chicken, adjusting the spice level to your preference by adding or subtracting the amount of green chiles. Just note that even if it is on the spicier side, the yogurt-based cilantro chutney and lime cut through and tone down the spiciness.
How to make Chicken Pakora
How to find the ingredients for this recipe
You can find most of these ingredients at your local grocery store (and probably have a lot of ingredients in your pantry/fridge already! However, if you can’t find all of the ingredients there (such as the dried fenugreek), you should check out your local Indian grocery store. We also have a box of 30 different Indian spices called Shanti’s Spice Box which can be found here.
What type of chicken is used for Chicken Pakora?
You can use either chicken breasts or thighs. However, since chicken breasts tend to dry out more than thighs, we chose the latter to make our chicken pakora recipe.
Is Chicken Pakora fried?
Yes, traditionally this is a fried dish. In fact, most recipes call for double deep frying the chicken. However, Zoe gets GERD (heartburn) when she eats things that are too fried so we just single-fried ours. It was still crispy on the outside and had a good crunch but wasn’t as crunchy as the traditional pakora. However, if you want to have an extra-crunchy chicken pakora, then go ahead and double fry them!
As a side note, we might eventually see if air fried chicken pakora would turn out well. Stay tuned…
What sauce goes with Chicken Pakora?
These tasty chicken bits are often served with a dipping sauce such as a raita or chutney. In our case, we opted for a tangy cilantro yogurt chutney using the rest of the cilantro we had. We also used an extra green chile in our chutney to give it a bit of a zing. We also added almonds (similar to what we do for Magic Green Sauce or Bitchin’ Sauce).
A few more cooking tips
- Don’t overcrowd the pan! This is true with pretty much every recipe but especially with this one. If there’s too much chicken in the pan at once, the oil temperature will drop and the chicken pieces will stick together. Trust us, it’s better to work in batches.
- Remember to use a towel or paper towel-lined dish to store the chicken after it’s cooked to soak up the extra oil.
- Give it enough time to marinate to soak up all the fragrant flavors.
Other similar delicious recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, definitely check out our Dahi Toast and Chana Masala! And let us know what you think in the comments below. Did we do it justice or would you had made it differently? We’re open to feedback on our culinary journey 🙂
Chicken Pakora
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 3 green chiles minced
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek lightly toasted
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 1 lemon
- 1.5 cup plain yogurt
- 1 onion sliced
- ¼ cup almonds
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, ginger paste, 2 green chiles, cumin, garam masala, chili powder, paprika, turmeric, salt, fenugreek, juice from ¼ the lemon, and about ¼ of the cilantro leaves (minced). Next, add ½ cup yogurt and 2 tbsp oil. Mix until combined.
- In another bowl, place the bite-sized chicken pieces and add about 80% of the spice mixture (reserve the other 20% for later) along with an egg. Use your hands to mix the chicken together with the marinade until evenly coated. Mix in the flour and cornstarch until also evenly coated. Let marinate for 2-4 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.
- Once done marinating, place a bowl or cast iron skillet on medium heat, filled with just enough oil to cover the chicken pieces. Using tongs and working in batches, carefully place chicken pieces in the oil, making sure to not overcrowd the pot. Fry for 5-7 minutes, occasionally stirring/flipping the chicken, until the outside is golden brown and the inside is no longer pink (if you have a thermometer, you can double check that it reached 165 degrees F). Once each batch is done, set aside on a paper towel-lined baking dish.
- Meanwhile, saute the sliced onion in another pan and when they start to turn golden brown, add the remaining 20% of the reserved marinade. Saute for another 2 minutes and set aside.
- For the cilantro chutney, in a food processor, add 1 cup yogurt with the remaining cilantro, lemon juice, and last green chili. Add 2 tbsp water, ¼ cup almonds, ½ tsp cumin, and ½ tsp salt. Blend until combined.
- Finally, add the onions to the chicken and serve with the cilantro chutney as dipping sauce.
Recommended Amazon Products for this Recipe:
This page may contain Amazon Affiliate links that earn us a small commission, at no additional cost to you. We only show products we personally use in our kitchen. See our disclaimer for more information.
