Restaurant Style Chicken Lollipop made at home from scratch, and all in less than 30 minutes of active cooking time! Makes for the perfect Indian chicken appetizer for potluck parties, or to indulge during the weekends! Sprinkle on chaat masala, and pair it with green chutney or schezwan dip.
If there is one Indian chicken appetizer that I have to pick, as my absolute favorite, it’ll be chicken lollipops. And it’s not a hard decision honestly, because I love these crispy fried chicken bites that much!
It’s my go-to pick whenever we go to restaurants. And the one dish I always ensure to divide evenly between me and my hubby, even scrutinizing the size of the pieces. 😛 Not out of any sense of fairness, but out of not wanting an ounce less of my favorite appetizer. 😀
Of-course if the restaurant serves an odd number of pieces, then I always negotiate for the extra one! Especially because I love it so much more than my hubby, who prefers the drums of heaven version with the gravy more than this dry and crispy version of chicken lollipop. So it’s fair, you see. 🙂
Anyway, those negotiating and bartering days are mostly behind us now. Now that I have figured out how to replicate the restaurant style chicken lollipops at home. And realized they are super quick and easy to make!
Which is why, this is one recipe, I am especially thrilled to share!
Ingredients You Need
Ingredient Notes:
Chicken Lollipop pieces – If you get ready lollipop pieces at the store, then this recipe will hardly take any time or effort to make, because all you need to do is marinate it with spices listed & fry!
If however you don’t get lollipop pieces at the store, then you’ll need to make it from wings, which is fairly simple too, but you’ll have to account for time to do that. I’ve shared how to make chicken lollipop pieces from chicken wings in a video shared below.
2 Step Marination – This recipe calls for 2 different marinades, which I recommend you follow – one for flavoring the chicken, and the other mostly for giving it the crispy coating.
But both marinades require really basic spices and sauces that are readily available.
Substitutions & Variations:
Chilli vs chilli garlic sauce – If you want a more garlicky flavor, then you can substitute chilli sauce with chill garlic sauce or do half & half.
Egg for marination – Some folks use egg in the second marinade, but I don’t prefer to use it, as it results in a runnier batter & a thicker coating, which will not give you the authentic restaurant like taste & texture.
How to Make Chicken Lollipop from Chicken Wings
If you get readymade lollipop pieces at the store, then you can skip this video. If however you get chicken wings, then watch this to know how to make lollipop from wings, before moving on to the recipe.
How to Make Chicken Lollipop at Home
First Marinade
In a large bowl, mix together red chilli paste, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, chilli vinegar, and salt.
Then mix in the chicken lollipop pieces, and let the chicken marinate in the spice mix for 15-20 minutes.
Second Marinade
In a bowl, mix together corn flour, rice flour, maida, red & kashmiri chilli powder, salt & pepper powder, and add the mix to the marinated chicken, along with some water, and mix everything together.
Adjust the quantity of water required little by little as there will be some moisture from the earlier marinade.
The goal is to get a semi thick paste-like marinade.
Frying the Lollipops
The lollipops might lose their shape during mixing and marination, so ensure to re-shape them, right before frying them. And also at that time spread the marinade around the lollipop, so it gets somewhat of an even coat.
Then deep fry the lollipop pieces, a few at a time, so as to not overcrowd the pan, and fry for 5-7 minutes till the chicken has cooked, and has turned crisp and golden brown.
Serving Suggestion
I usually love to eat chicken lollipops as is, with just some chaat masala sprinkled on them. But both green chutney and schezwan chutney make for great dips for chicken lollipops.
Watch How To Make It!
Variation
Drums of Heaven – Some restaurants use chicken lollipops & drums of heaven interchangeably, but there is a difference. Chicken lollipops are crispy & dry, while drums of heaven involve further cooking of lollipops, and flavoring it with an Indo-chinese spice mix, and it usually results in a semi dry gravy.
It’s a recipe that is on my radar to share, so I’ll get to it soon.
Popular Chicken Recipes:
Chicken 65 – Stovetop + Oven + Airfryer Recipe
Spicy Hot Kolhapuri Style Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Chicken Biryani – One Pot Biryani
Whole Roast Chicken Tandoori Recipe
As always, I hope you found this recipe useful. If you did, please let me know your rating ⭐️ and feedback 📲 in the comments below, or simply rate the recipe right on the recipe card. I’d really appreciate it. ❤️
Chicken Lollipop Recipe
Ingredients
- 15 chicken lollipop pieces
1st Marinade
- 2 tablespoon red chilli paste
- 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
2nd Marinade
- 2 tablespoon corn flour
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
- 2 tablespoon maida / all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon water adjust as needed
Instructions
First Marination
- In a large bowl, mix together red chilli paste, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, chilli vinegar, and salt.
- Mix in the chicken lollipop pieces, and let the chicken marinate in the spice mix for 15-20 minutes.
Second Marination
- In a bowl, mix together corn flour, rice flour, maida, red & kashmiri chilli powder, salt & pepper powder, and add the mix to the marinated chicken, along with some water, and mix everything together. Adjust the quantity of water required little by little as there will be some moisture from the earlier marinade.
- The goal is to get a semi thick paste-like marinade, that you will need to ensure is applied somewhat evenly over the lollipop pieces right before frying them. You might also need to re-shape the lollipop pieces before spreading out the marinade on them, just before you fry them.
Frying Chicken Lollipops
- In a frying pan, heat up the oil, and drop the lollipop pieces, a few at a time, so as to not overcrowd the pan, and fry for 5-7 minutes till the chicken has cooked, and has turned crisp and golden brown.
- Sprinkle chaat masala, and serve with schezwan chutney or green chutney.
Notes
- If you don’t have access to ready made chicken lollipop pieces, then you can make them at home from chicken wings. See video shared in the post above, or click here to see how to convert wings to lollipop.
- If you want a stronger garlic flavor, instead of using red chilli paste, you can use half and half of red chilli paste and chilli garlic paste or just substitute red chilli paste with chilli garlic paste.
- Some prefer to add egg in the second marinade, which will give you a runnier batter & a thicker coating on the chicken. Which is fine if you prefer that, but it will not look or taste like the authentic chicken lollipops available in the restaurants.
Nutrition
Video Recipe
If you’d like FREE recipes and meal prep ideas delivered directly to your email inbox every Friday in one short email, then subscribe to the Foodie Friday list HERE, and never run out of ideas on what to cook over the weekend or prep for the week ahead. 🙂
Arun
Very nice and tasty easy to make
The Love of Spice
thank you!
Navia Dkjajuka
Omg. These were absolutely amazing. Perfect spice, flavor, and crispy. Made some for a party and people complimented me for how amazing these were. Will be using this recipe FOREVER
The Love of Spice
So glad to hear that Navia. Thanks for taking the time to share feedback.