These Indian Spiced Chicken Bites are
crunchy as well as juicy quick and easy to make good snack bites to munch on perfect filling for tacos / quesadillas and topping for pizzas!
Air Fryer Recipe
These air fryer chicken bites are fairly simple to make. All you need to do is clean, cut, and marinate the chicken in a basic Indian spice mix, and air fry the chicken cubes for 20 minutes. I am listing out the ingredients and method below to make these air fryer chicken bites using 3 pounds of chicken thigh meat. You can always adjust the quantity of ingredients, depending on the number of servings you want to make. 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.
Ingredients
I have used chicken thigh meat, and highly recommend using it over breast meat, especially for air fryer recipes, because breast meat cooks faster, and has a tendency to overcook and get rubbery more easily, as compared to thigh meat. Using thigh meat will ensure the chicken stays juicy while getting crispy. Boneless chicken thigh meat – 3 poundsGinger garlic paste – 4 tablespoonSalt – 2 – 2.25 teaspoonRed Chilli Powder – 2-2.25 teaspoonGaram Masala Powder – 2.5 teaspoonCoriander Powder – 2.5 teaspoonCumin Powder – 1 teaspoonCooking oil – 1 tablespoon
Method
Clean and cut boneless chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. Marinate them with Indian spice mix made out of ginger garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder. The ideal marination time is 2-4 hours in a refrigerator. But when you are in a hurry, an hour of marination time will suffice.
Just ensure to thaw out the refrigerated chicken for at-least 30 minutes at room temperature before air frying them, so that they are not exposed to extreme high temperatures within a matter of minutes. And remember to add a tablespoon of oil in the marinated chicken, right before air frying it. Because a little bit of oil will significantly add to the taste and the texture of air fried chicken pieces.
Place the chicken pieces in the air fryer, a little at a time, no more than two layers, preferably just one layer, especially if you want the chicken to be super crispy. Air Fry @ 390 F for 20 minutes, ensuring to flip once at the 10 minute mark, and checking on it in the last few minutes.
Notes
The air frying time might vary depending on the quantity of chicken put per lot and the crispiness required. The smaller the batch size, the faster the chicken cooks, and crispier it gets. This is true for anything you put in the air fryer, but it’s best to monitor the chicken every few minutes, especially towards the end, so as to not over cook it.
Stove Top / Oven Variation
You can always pan fry or deep fry the marinated chicken cubes on the stove-top instead of air frying them. If you are pan frying the chicken, it’s best to cut the chicken into palm sized pieces and pan fry. And then cut them into cubes later, once the chicken is cooked. That way, you wouldn’t have to deal with flipping all those small cubes on the pan. Pan fry for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on the size of the chicken pieces. If you are deep frying the chicken, it’s best to use chicken cubes, as they will fry faster. Deep fry the cubes in small batches for 3-5 mins per batch, depending on the size of the cubes and your batch. You can also bake the chicken in the oven at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, ensuring to flip once at the 10 minute mark. Though this method will not make the chicken super crispy.
Serving Suggestion
Serve with green chutney or schezwan chutney as a snack. Or use as a filling for chicken tacos / quesadillas, or as a topping for chicken pizza.
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📖 RECIPE
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