Chicken Onion Pakoda- Indian Onion Fritters- Tea time Snack

Chicken Onion Pakoda

Chicken onion pakora/fritters is a classic Indian tea time snack fried to crispy golden perfection. It is an addictive snack and is a pure joy to indulge in with hot piping tea. There are comfort and joy in munching sizzling hot spicy pakodas/ pakoras with masala tea during the monsoon rains with soulful music in the background. They are so addictive you will never get tired of eating them!

Onion pakodas/pakoras are easy to make a snack, made with thinly sliced onions and gram flour/ chickpea flour. Onions and chickpea flour is a pantry staple, and it will be ready in under 15 minutes. I make them often, but adding chicken to onions was a game-changer. It tastes super delicious that everyone will go crazy over. It can be served as a spicy and yummy starter and is great for entertaining, movie nights, or a game-day snack. Use leftover cooked chicken for this recipe. If you are using raw chicken, use minced chicken or cut into thin slices. You can add cashew nuts, corn kernels, etc, for a delicious crunch.

There are unimaginable varieties of pakodas, and it is famous as street food as well. You can find pakodas in restaurants, kiosks, street stalls in every part of India with regional flavors added to it. Coconut oil, curry leaves, hing, crushed garlic, and fennel seeds bring in the south Indian flavor to these fritters. For a different taste, try adding ajwain or caraway seeds and chaat masala. Serve it with coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, or ketchup.

The flour used in this recipe is chickpeas flour and rice flour. Rice flour is optional. It adds crispiness to the pakoras. The batter has to be thick and almost crumble- like to get them crispy, crunchy texture that everyone likes. So sprinkle water, just enough to make the flour moist and stick to the onions. If you add too much water, the pakoras will become soft and not crispy. You can add 2 tsp of hot oil into the batter to make the onion pakoda crisp, and it absorbs less oil while frying. Slice the onions as thinly and evenly as possible for extra crispness.

Add chilly powder according to your spice preference.Fennel seeds are a flavorful spice and have a sweet aroma. Slightly crush the fennel to enable it to release its flavor while frying. Alternatively, you can use garam masala powder. Crushed garlic and coriander leaves, curry leaves enhance the flavor.

Chicken Onion Pakoda/ Pakoras

Ingredients
Chicken- thinly sliced- 1 cup
Onion thinly sliced-2 medium
Ginger chopped - 1 tbs
garlic -2 pods
Green chilly finely chopped- 2
Gram Flour- 1 cup
Rice flour- 1/3 cup
Kashmiri Chilly powder- 1 1/2 ts
Turmeric powder- 1/8 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1/8 tsp
Coarsely ground whole coriander- 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves
Curry leaves - a few
hing- a pinch
salt to taste
lemon juice- 1 tsp
Oil for deep frying- 1 1/2 cup

Cut chicken into thin long pieces. Marinate with turmeric powder, chopped green chilly, ginger garlic paste salt, and lemon juice and keep aside for 10 minutes. Cook this marinated chicken with 1/4 cup of water and set aside. If you have leftover cooked chicken, you can use it for the recipe. Pull apart cooked chicken into thin long strips.
Into a bowl, add thinly sliced onion(red or yellow onion), chopped ginger, garlic, green chilly, chopped curry leaves, and coriander leaves. Mix in salt, turmeric powder, crushed fennel, chilly powder, and a pinch of hing. Rub this mixture using your hand so that the onion releases water. Set this aside for 5 minutes.
Add the chicken, gram flour, and rice flour and mix. Sprinkle water little by little( Not more than 1/4 cup of water) and mix well till the flour attains an almost crumble like texture. It should not be watery, but a sticky dough able to stick to the onions and chicken and holds shape when dropped into the hot oil. Heat oil in a pan to medium heat. Drop small portions and try to make sure it does not clump together. Do not overcrowd the pan, and fry in batches. When one side turns golden brown, using a slotted spatula turn, and cook on the other side for another two minutes. Remove from the oil using spatula and drain on paper towels. Keep oil temperature medium, and fry in batches. Serve with tea.