Chicken pakora

Chicken pakora

                         These Crispy Chicken pakora is known as kodi pakoda or chicken pakoda in Andhra Pradesh. Served in most restaurants as an appetizer and is also prepared in many Andhra homes. On the third day of sankranthi, known as kanuma (the day of feast for son_in_laws), these pakodas are prepared along with a chicken pulao or biryani and a chicken curry in my mom's home. Since all the dishes are made of chicken or mutton that day, we try to use minimum chicken and flour in this recipe. Chicken and onions are used in almost the same quantities.  I had prepared this for kanuma and could not post it, as I was keen to post some vegetarian recipes before this.

Tips: Make sure that the fillets come to room temperature before you fry, this way they are crispier and remain so for longer as well they absorb less oil. However they are still oily as chicken pakodas cannot be made oil free as the meat is moist.

Ingredients

half cup of chicken fillets

half cup of sliced onions layers separated

2 green chilies chopped small

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp of finely chopped  ginger pieces (optional, but adds a great aroma)

1 tbsp lemon juice(adjust)

½ tsp red chili powder

¼ tsp biryani masala powder

1/8 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

15 to 20 curry leaves washed and chopped

4 to 6 tbsps besan or chickpea flour (adjust as per needed, this depends on how much moisture your chicken expels after we marinate)

1 tbsp semolina

oil to deep fry

Method

1.   Cut chicken pieces to thin strips of 2 “* ¾ “each. Refer the pic. wash and drain up the water thoroughly

2.   Mix the chicken pieces with onions, curry leaves, ginger, ginger garlic paste, green chili, red chili pow, biryani masala and turmeric, lemon juice and salt. set aside for 20 to 30 mins. do not refrigerate

3.   heat oil in a kadai and proceed to the next step

4.   Add in the flour as needed to make stiff moist dough. Do not add water to the dough and do not make it floury either. just use enough flour to bind them

5.   add semolina and mix well
6.   When the oil reaches a smoke point, reduce the flame to min, wait for 2 mins, and increase the flame to medium, drop these chicken pieces one after the other along with the onions . do not overcrowd. fry till they turn golden brown.

7.   Once all the pakoras are done, refry all the pakoras in batches for 1 to 2 mins to keep them extra crisp. Take care not to burn.

Notes: do not drop these in very hot oil, as they will turn brown without cooking inside.