Chicken Kali Mirch | Pepper Chicken (Dry)

Chicken Kali Mirch / Pepper Chicken (Dry) makes for an easy chicken appetizer, or even a side with a main dish like biryani or fried rice.

And it’s a very low fuss recipe, using limited ingredients (just 3 ingredient marination), and under 30 minutes to make (especially if you have marinated the chicken ahead of time).

This recipe uses boneless chicken, but you can adapt it and use bone-in chicken as well.

In-fact, this recipe came about because I wanted to try and recreate the restaurant style pepper chicken that I had in a South Indian restaurant, and they had used bone-in chicken.

That being said, after having tried both, I personally prefer using boneless chicken for this kind of pepper chicken fry. And bone-in chicken for the curried version of chicken kali mirch.

Jump to:

• Ingredients You Need
• How to Make Chicken Kali Mirch / Pepper Chicken (Dry Version)
• Serving Suggestion
• Popular Chicken Recipes to try next..
• 📖 RECIPE

Ingredients You Need

Ingredient notes

~ Use boneless chicken thigh meat and not breast meat, for a tender and juicier pepper chicken

How to Make Chicken Kali Mirch / Pepper Chicken (Dry Version)

Note: For this recipe I’m using 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite sized pieces) – easily enough for about 6 people.

If you want to make more or less quantity than what I have shared, simply use the slider in the recipe card below to adjust the quantities based on your preference.

• In a dry mixer, take 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns & ½ tablespoon of fennel seeds, and run the mixer till it turns into a fine powder.
  
• To this pepper & fennel powder, add 1½ teaspoon of salt, and mix well.
  
• The spice rub for marinating the chicken is ready!

• Apply this spice rub to the chicken pieces, ensuring to coat all the chicken pieces well.
  
• Let the chicken marinate in this spice mix for at-least 1-2 hours.

• In a wide pan, lightly heat up 2 tablespoons of oil, and to it add 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds.
  
• When the mustard seeds start crackling, add in about 10 curry leaves, and 2 whole red chilies (each slit in two parts), and roast for a couple of minutes, till they get lightly roasted.
  
• Then add in 1 cup of chopped onions & ½ teaspoon salt, and saute on medium flame, till the onions start to turn light brown.
  
• After this, add in 2 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste & saute for a couple of minutes, just till it loses its raw flavor.
  
• Finally add in the marinated chicken thigh pieces & mix well.
  
• Cook covered on medium high heat, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is fully cooked.

Serving Suggestion

Serve hot as an appetizer or as a side with a rice dish.

Popular Chicken Recipes to try next..

⭐️ Restaurant Style Chicken Lollipop
⭐️ Chicken Ghee Roast Recipe
⭐️ Tandoori Spiced Chicken Wings
⭐️ Whole Chicken Tandoori Recipe
⭐️ Instant Pot Chicken Biriyani

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. ❤️ 

📖 RECIPE

This post was first published in 2019, and has been republished with updated instructions, images & video in Jun 2023.

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