The lightest, crispiest and juiciest easy homemade chicken pakora recipe you’ll ever try. What good is a fakeaway Indian Feast at home if you don’t have homemade chicken pakora to go with it?!
This is going to be one of the best fakeaway items that you’ll ever add to your chicken repertoire.
Granted, it’s deep-fried, but it’s high protein so it balances out. And no one ever makes Indian Food if they’re planning to be health-conscious. Or maybe they are in, in which case you could try my Beef Mince Keema recipe.
The perfect addition to your indian-themed feast, alongside my: Spiced Onions, Pink Pakora Sauce, Chicken Chasni or South Indian Garlic Chilli recipe.
Why I Love It:
9 times out of 10 it’s BETTER than the takeaway, as so often the chicken can be dry and overcooked. Not yours (if you cook it right!) – see Recipe Notes below for tips.
Once you’ve mastered this pakora, you’ll be coating everything in gram flour and deep-frying it!
Gram Flour is GLUTEN FREE. So it’s the perfect option for your celiac friend and everyone else as a dinner party menu item. As it caters to allergies, whilst not being an obvious ‘allergy menu’ item. Who doesn’t love chicken pakora??
You can also check out my Pink Pakora Sauce recipe (photo below).
Suitable for the whole family:
Suitable from 12 months old if using chunks of chicken. Please ensure your child can chew confidently if opting for this option.
If you have a baby younger than 12 months in the house, why not use the same batter to coat some soft steamed vegetables so they can enjoy the same meal with you?
Ingredients
Chicken: I use chicken breast, as that is what is most commonly used in a takeaway or restaurant, but you could use thigh instead if desired (this would reduce the cost). I cut the breast into ‘mini fillets’, but you chop it into chunks instead for little chicken pakora nuggets.
Vegetable Oil: this is the most common type of oil for frying, but you can use sunflower oil or canola oil (just try to opt for an oil with a high smoke point (i.e. can withstand high temperatures). If you prefer an animal based option, then you can use animal tallow / lard / fat.
Ginger: I opt for ginger paste/puree for quickness, but you could use a grated thumb sized piece of fresh ginger instead
Garlic: I opt for garlic paste/puree for quickness, but you could use 2-3 grated cloves instead
You can use the garlic/ginger paste combined (2 tablespoons of this would be required).
Spices
As is the case with lots of indian cooking, don’t worry too much if you don’t have one specific spice. Missing one ingredient or substituting it for another will not alter the course of the whole recipe.
Salt
Chilli Powder
Coriander
Turmeric
Fenugreek
Curry Leaves: I like the flavour they add but if you don’t have them in your pantry and don’t want to buy them for one recipe, don’t bother, as they’re optional.
Feel free to add garam masala, curry powder or onion powder if you’d like to add more flavour.
Dietary
This recipe is Gluten Free, as it uses Gram Flour (chickpea flour).
It is also Dairy Free.
How To Make Homemade Chicken Pakora
Chop chicken into ‘mini fillet’ strips. Sieve gram flour to remove any lumps (this will ensure the batter is smooth then add salt, spices and ginger/garlic purée.
Whisk through the water until you have a double cream consistency to make the batter. Then coat the chicken fillets in the batter.
Deep fry in vegetable oil at 338-356F or 170-180C for 4 – 5 minutes.
Serve whilst hot!
Recipe Notes and Tips
Use a temperature monitor – you can pick a cheap one up on Amazon here.
This can be used to measure both the temperature of the vegetable oil and the internal temperature of the chicken to check if it’s cooked (you’re looking for an internal temp of 165F or 73.9C).
Your pakora batter should have a consistency like double cream (heavy cream) – add more water than stated in the recipe if you feel it needs it.
When frying the pakora, don’t overcrowd the pan. This will bring the oil temperature down and you won’t achieve the crispy texture. Fry in batches appropriate to the size of your pot or pan.
Once you’ve fried your first batch, wait on oil coming back up to temperature (165F or 73.9C) before adding another lot.
FAQs
Yes – opt for a meat-free option like paneer or tofu. If using vegetables, then you may need to par-boil some vegetables first (like cauliflower, potato and broccoli etc.) but if using thinly sliced onion (for bhajis etc.) then this isn’t required and you can deep-fry straight raw onion.
No. The batter is too runny and will not set in time (like it does hitting the hot oil), so I would avoid trying this.
As is the case with lots of indian-style cooking, don’t worry too much if you don’t have one specific spice. Missing one ingredient will not alter the course of the whole recipe. The joy of cooking is getting to experiment!
Storage, Advanced Preperation + Re-Heating
The chicken pakora is freezable once cooked.
It can also be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months, and reheated straight from frozen (or defrosted in the fridge first) in the oven or airfryer.
If you plan to cook it in advance, it will store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
You can then re-heat in the oven or airfryer until piping hot.
And finally …
If you have any questions, or want to tell me what you think of my recipe, then leave a comment below!
If you like this recipe and are looking for more Indian Takeaway recipes, then why not try my Spiced Onions, Pink Pakora Sauce, Chicken Chasni or South Indian Garlic Chilli recipe.
Easy Chicken Pakora Recipe (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breast
- vegetable oil for frying
- 100 g gram flour sieved
- 1 tbsp ginger paste or thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp garlic paste or 2-3 cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fenugreek
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp curry leaves optional
- 150 ml water +/- 30mls
Instructions
- Chop 3 chicken breast into ‘mini fillet’ strips
- Start to heat vegetable oil on the hob (we need it to be 338-356F or 170-180C for frying the pakoras)
- Mix together all ingredients for pakora sauce (see note below)
- Sieve 100 g gram flour into a large bowl to remove any lumps (this will ensure the batter is smooth)
- Add 1 tbsp ginger paste, 1 tbsp garlic paste, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp fenugreek, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp curry leaves to gram flour
- Whisk through 150 ml water until you have a double cream consistency to make the batter
- Coat chopped chicken fillets in pakora batter
- Deep fry in vegetable oil for 4-5minutes (or until it reaches internal temperature of 73.9C or 165F)
- Serve whilst hot!
One Response
Absolutely banging. My family beg me to make it for them. It’s so easy and super tasty. The pakora sauce is also a winner. Thank you ☺️