Chicken lollipop recipe | How to make chicken lollipop

Chicken lollipop recipe – A hot and spicy appetizer made with drummettes or whole chicken wings. I make chicken appetizers often at home and it is our most preferred way to enjoy chicken. We try to cut down eating fried appetizers in restaurants as we do not known the quality of oil and other ingredients used. Most times they are loaded with MSG & food color as well.

I made chicken lollipop a few times before and after several trials I settled with this one as one of the best. This is a fusion Indo-Chinese style recipe. I have included lot of options so it can be tweaked easily to suit your taste.

Chicken lollipop is great to enjoy as a appetizer & is a great addition to your party menu. However it goes amazingly good with Chinese Noodles or fried rice.

To make chicken lollipop recipe, either drummettes or whole chicken wings can be used. Both need to be frenched to get the shape of a lollipop. I have used drummettes. If you live in a place where drummettes are not available, then you can use whole chicken wings.

If you are a beginner and has not handled meat before i suggest you try with drummettes. These are the first portion of the whole chicken wings and are fairly easy to french.

The same recipe can be used to make grilled chicken lollipop. The only difference would be the color of the chicken. But once seasoned with sauce both look the same. While the grilled ones get a grilled flavor, which is not for the fried chicken.

I have blurred few step by step images, showing them as it is may irk newbies.  But focused in few places, good enough to understand.

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Chicken lollipop recipe

Chicken lollipop recipe | How to make chicken lollipop

Saucy chicken lollipop made in Chinese Style. Perfect as a appetizer or with a Chinese meal.

Prep Time1 hour

Cook Time25 minutes

Total Time1 hour 25 minutes

Servings4

AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )

• ½ kg chicken drummettes (or 1 lb)
• oil as needed for frying

marination

• 1 ¼ tablespoon Ginger garlic paste or mince or ½ tsp each of powder
• ¼ to ½ red chili powder or paprika (adjust) or red chili sauce
• ½ teaspoon any spice powder or garam masala
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoon corn flour or (2 tbsp. rice flour)

seasoning for chicken lollipop

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• ¾ tablespoon ginger minced
• ¾ tablespoon garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red chili sauce or red chilli paste or any hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup water

garnishing (optional)

• 2 tablespoon chopped celery or spring onions

How to make the recipe

Preparation for chicken lollipop

• This section is optional but will tenderize the chicken & keeps it juicy.
• Add 3 to 4 tbsp yogurt to a bowl, whisk it.
• Then pour 1 ¼ cup water and salt.
• Transfer the chicken and brine for 1 hour to overnight to tenderize the chicken.

Frying or grilling chicken

• Drain off the buttermilk and add chili powder, ginger garlic, spice powder & salt.
• Rub these well and then sprinkle corn flour. Coat the chicken well.
• Heat oil until hot enough.
• Then fry the chicken on a medium heat until crisp and golden.
• Remove to kitchen tissues.
• Alternately you can grill then in a preheated oven at 220 C for 20 to 22 mins until cooked through.

How to make chicken lollipop

• Add 1½ tsp oil to a pan for seasoning and heat it.
• Saute ginger garlic until aromatic. Add onions & fry until transparent. 
• Stir in red chili sauce, sugar, vinegar and soya sauce. 
• When the sauce begins to bubble pour water and stir.
• Taste and check the salt, sweet, sour & spice.
• Add more if needed. Cook until the sauce thickens.
• Add the fried chicken. Toss them well to coat the sauce.
• Garnish chicken lollipop with spring onions or celery.

NUTRITION (estimation only)

Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 305mg | Potassium: 305mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1060IU | Vitamin C: 2.9mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1.2mg

Notes

If you do not have red chili sauce, stir in 3/4 to 1 tbsp red chilli powder in 2 tbsp water. Use it in the recipe

If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.

Preparation for chicken lollipop recipe

1. I always prefer to brine / soak the chicken in buttermilk for at least an hour. If using larger wings or drummettes then i suggest soaking for 4 to 6 hours in refrigerator.

I would not recommend skipping this step as it really helps to yield soft and tender chicken when fried or grilled.

To make buttermilk, add 3 to 4 tbsp curd or yogurt to a bowl. Whisk it well with a fork. Add 1 ¼ cup water and ¼ tsp salt. Then add chicken to the butter milk.

Always cover the chicken container and wrap with a few disposable plastic bags. Place the bowl in a separate compartment in the fridge which is not used for fruits, veggies and nuts.

2. Remove skin and fats before going ahead. Hold the thinner side of the drummettes. Next with the help of a knife, bring down the meat towards the other end. You can look at the picture.

3. Drain off the buttermilk completely if any. Add chili powder or paprika, spice powder, Ginger garlic and pepper powder as well. Toss gently to coat.

How to make chicken lollipop recipe

4. Mix cornflour with salt. Next add it to the bowl. Mix well. If you do not like to use corn flour, use unbleached and unbromated flour. You can make these without flour or can use only 2 tbsp rice flour as well.

5. Next shape them to balls on one side and place them all on a plate.

6. You can grill or fry the chicken. Grill in a preheated oven at 240 C for 20 to 22 minutes depending on the size. OR Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, deep fry them on medium high until cooked.

Do not fry on very high flame as it may brown the chicken outside without cooking inside. Next frying on a very low flame, will make the chicken hard. I haven’t tried shallow frying or pan frying, since I am not sure if they get cooked well.

7. Drain them on a kitchen towel. I fried in 3 batches.

Making sauce for chicken lollipop recipe

8. Transfer the oil to a bowl. After that keep 1.5 tsp oil in the pan. Add ginger garlic and fry until fragrant.

9. Next add onions and fry until transparent. While the onions fry, make red chili paste. Mix ¾ tbsp chili powder with 1.5 tbsp water. You can also use ready made chili paste.

10. Mix 1 tsp vinegar with only 1 tsp naturally brewed soya sauce for half kg chicken. Pour it to the pan.

11. Add sugar and red chili paste or sauce. Saute everything together without burning.

12. Then pour ½ cup water and Stir.

13. Allow the sauce to cook until it thickens.

14. Add the chicken and toss. I set aside a few for the kids as the sauce is spicy.

Finally garnish chicken lollipop with spring onions or celery. Wrap the lollypops with foil towards the bone. Serve as an appetizer or a side to a Chinese meal.