Easy Chicken Pakora Recipe (without eggs)
Chicken pakora is a crispy Indian appetizer made with boneless chicken, gram flour batter, and spices. Follow my tips to make these crispy, restaurant-style pakoras at home.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 384kcal
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Deep bottom pan/Wok
Ingredients
Marinate the chicken
- 300 gram chicken boneless, cut into small bite-size pieces
- salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon spicy red chili powder (add as per taste)
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon tandoori masala powder (substitue with garam masala powder)
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped curry leaves (optional)
- 2 tablespoon thick curd/yogurt (substitute with 2 tablespoon of egg white)
Other ingredients
- 4 tablespoon Besan gram flour or chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoon rice flour (substitute cornstarch/cornflour)
- 1 teaspoon vinegar (substitute lemon juice)
- 2 tablespoon oil (for mixing into batter)
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Prep the chicken: Pat the chicken dry with a clean kitchen tissue and cut it into even bite-sized pieces. I always cut them into a similar size so they fry evenly.300 gram chicken
- Marinate the chicken: Mix the chicken with all the ingredients listed under "marinate" the chicken in the recipe card. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours for juicy and flavorful pakoras.salt to taste, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste, ½ teaspoon black pepper powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, ½ teaspoon spicy red chili powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon tandoori masala powder, 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves, 1 tablespoon chopped curry leaves, 2 tablespoon thick curd/yogurt
- Make the pakora mixture: Add besan, rice flour, vinegar, and 1-2 tablespoons of water as needed. Mix well to make a thick coating. If needed, add 1 more tablespoon of water, but do not make it runny, or the pakoras won't turn crispy.4 tablespoon Besan, 2 tablespoon rice flour, 1 teaspoon vinegar
- Rest the batter: Add 2 tablespoons of oil and mix well. Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes for a better coating.
- Fry the pakoras: Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Fry in small batches and avoid overcrowding the pan so the pakoras turn crispy.
- Cook until crispy: Do not stir immediately. Let the chicken fry for a minute, then gently stir and fry until golden and crispy. I fry them on medium heat so the chicken cooks well inside, too.
- Sprinkle some chaat masala on top and serve hot with green chutney or ketchup.
Video
Notes
- Marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours or overnight for juicy and flavorful pakoras.
- The addition of rice flour is important to make the pakoda crispy.
- Make a thick pakora mixture using less water. If the pakora mixture is thin or runny, the pakoras will not be crispy.
- If the pakora batter is thin or runny, then add some more rice flour to it.
- The addition of either curd or egg white is important. They keep the chicken juicy inside after frying.
- The temperature of the oil to fry pakoras should be perfect. It should not be too hot or cold. To check, drop some batter in hot oil. If it rises quickly without browning too fast, the oil is ready.
- Fry the pakoras in medium-hot oil. If the oil is very hot, then it will get fried quickly outside but will remain uncooked inside.
- Add some chopped green chilies to make it spicy. I have skipped this step for kids.
Nutrition
Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 376mg | Potassium: 165mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg