3.7/5 rating (77 votes)

Chicken Pakora

Golden Chicken Nuggets

  • Heat Medium
  • Serves 4
  • Dietary Info LACTOSE-FREE WHEAT-FREE GLUTEN-FREE
  • Prep 10 mins
  • Marinade 10 mins
  • Cook 10 mins
Chicken Pakora

Hot spicy chicken marinated with zing of lemon then deep fried in a batter for a crispy shell.

Hari says

A Pakora is usually a vegetable dish but myself and my husband have spent ages trying to perfect the best fried chicken, and this is an off-shoot of those experiments. I thought I'd stir up some Indian flavours into the batter to see what happened, and the results were so good that this has now become a family favourite.

The chicken marinades beautifully and that gives such a spicy tang for the taste buds. It's all held together with delicious crunch - think typical southern fried chicken but much spicier. It's so simple and easy to throw together and is delightfully messy to share!

To get the main ingredients for my Pakora recipe, check our my curry kit here.

  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • 5 chicken thigh fillets, trimmed & chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3cm piece fresh ginger, chopped roughly
  • 2 green chillies, chopped
  • Juice from ½ lemon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds (crushed)
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
  • 100g gram flour
  • Handful of coriander, chopped
  • Water (if required)
  • Rapeseed oil for deep frying

Method

  1. Place the garlic, ginger, green chillies, lemon juice, garam masala, cumin seeds, chilli powder, dried fenugreek leaves into a pestle and mortar and blend to a rough paste.
  2. Place chicken in a bowl and add the paste, mix to marinade and leave for at least 20 minutes - the longer the better.
  3. Heat up the oil in a karahi or wok to a medium heat.
  4. Into the marinated chicken sprinkle in the freshly chopped coriander and then sieve in the gram flour. Mix together using your hand.
  5. Add a small amount of water if required to ensure the chicken is coated in a thick batter.
  6. Test your oil is hot enough by dropping in a little batter into the oil. If it browns and rises immediately then it is ready. Very carefully place the pieces of chicken into the oil one at a time and fry until crisp and golden brown.
  7. Using a slotted spoon move the pakora around, be careful not to overcrowd the karahi.
  8. Once golden brown and crisp remove from the oil and set on some kitchen paper. 

Served with

Delicious served with some imlee or mint chutney.

Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
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Nutritional information

Typical values* per Serving
Calories185
Fat (g)7.4
of which saturates (g)1.9
Carbohydrates (g)8.2
of which sugars (g)0.6
Fibre (g)1.6
Protein (g)22
Salt (mg)1.1
*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.

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Comments

Comments (8)

  • Jean cairns

    Jean cairns

    11 May 2020 at 12:41 |
    Hi,Hari,I have made your veg pakora and also chicken pakora,clean plates,the family loved them .I'm looking forward to trying all of your recipes,thank you from Scotland.

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      Hari Ghotra

      12 May 2020 at 14:00 |
      Hi Jean - fantastic to read this! So happy they are loving the dishes Thanks Hari

      reply

  • Ian

    Ian

    05 September 2018 at 12:44 |
    Hi Hari
    Can this recipe be made the day before then re-eated, or maybe the paste made before. I want to use this recipe for a dinner party appetiser.

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      Hari Ghotra

      06 September 2018 at 11:17 |
      Hi Ian Many thanks for your question. If I am honest they are best cooked fresh - you could reheat in the oven on high but the batter is best from the frier. You could make the batter before hand then just mix and fry on the day. Hope this helps and I hope you will share some pictures of your dish. Thanks Hari

      reply

  • Dee Ferry

    Dee Ferry

    06 February 2018 at 16:16 |
    This is the best chicken pakora I've ever tasted. I'm making your vegetable pakora today, so I'll let you know how I got on. Thank you for the recipes

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      Hari Ghotra

      07 February 2018 at 09:59 |
      Hi Dee That is fantastic - thanks so much for your feedback and for trying the recipes. Let me know what yo try next time. Have you downloaded the app yet? Thanks Hari

      reply

  • Davy

    Davy

    02 October 2016 at 13:50 |
    Excellent recipe. I have started to introduce my Thai in laws to the lovely taste of Indian cuisine. I find your style very nice and easy to follow. Good work and I'm away to choose a chicken curry to cook tonight. Thank your.
    Davy from Scotland (living in rural thailand )

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      Hari Ghotra

      04 October 2016 at 17:43 |
      Wow hi Davy all the way over in Thailand! You are making me nervous introducing Indian food to your Thai in-laws...eeeekkk!! I hope they like it but I want some of their Thai recipes in return - I love Thai food!! Let me know how the chicken curry worked out. Thanks so much for getting in touch Cheers Hari

      reply

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