Photo Credit: Smita Vinchurkar
Food Stylist: Alok Verma | All About That Palate
The humble Chicken Farcha is the bawa equivalent to KFC Chicken. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, Chicken Farchas not only go well with all sorts of curries and dals but also act as a great starter with some yogurt and mint raita. In the same way that the colonel has his secret spice, the Parsis also have a secret spice that goes into making these fried beauties. Except, our version is infinitely more yummier and as a bonus easier to make at home!
When I was a child, I remember regular gorging on a full leg of Chicken Farcha during the Parsi wedding and navjote season. Nowadays, people have become more health conscious and it is rarely seen in wedding menus. While this is a good thing, it means that the only place where you can try out the Chicken Farcha is at Parsi shops like RTI or PAC or at the few Irani cafe’s dotting Mumbai.
Photo Credit: Smita Vinchurkar
Food Stylist: Alok Verma | All About That Palate
Luckily for me, the chef who comes to cook at our place – we fondly call her ‘Oberoi’ because her food is as delicious as what you would get at her namesake – has been cooking at Parsi households for more than ten years. She has a tested recipe for Chicken Farchas which she happily shared it with me. I tried these out at the Lil Flea market held earlier this year and the Farchas were a sell out hit! For anyone who’s a lover of Fried Chicken (like me) I promise you this version is one that you will keep coming back to – ingredients at the bottom of the post as always.
Begin by marinating the chicken in red chilli paste, garlic paste, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, garam masala, chopped coriander and lemon juice. Mix well and let the chicken marinate for atleast two hours or preferably overnight
Before you fry the chicken, cook the marinated chicken in the microwave for 3 minutes on high to partly cook it from the inside. Once this is done, cool the chicken on a chopping board or plate while you get the breadcrumb and egg coating ready
To prepare the egg coating, vigorously whisk the eggs with the salt, pepper and dhana jeera masala
In a shallow frying pan, heat the oil until it is very hot. Now, taking one piece of chicken at a time coat it in breadcrumbs or semolina (rawa) first and then in egg and slowly lower them into the oil.
Fry on both sides until the chicken coating is golden brown. Remove the chicken and drain on a dish covered with paper towels.
Serve hot with some yogurt raita or with crispy wedges
To make 4 chicken farchas you will need:
2 full chicken legs (2 drumsticks and 2 thighs)
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red-chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp dhana-jeera powder
1 tbsp crushed garlic paste
1 tbsp red chilli paste
Juice of 1 lemon
1 fist of coriander leaves
2 eggs
Breadcrumbs or Semolina to coat
Salt and Pepper to taste
Yummy and these farchas beat KFC chicken.
What is dhana-jeera masala I am Muslim based in UAE and really want to try Parsi dishes so please share the recipe.!
Hey! You should be able to get a Dhana Jeera Masala in any Indian shop – it is easily available. It is a mix made of coriander and jeera seeds.
Superb recipe…..
What kind of breadcrumbs do u use?
I make my own breadcrumbs from toasted crusty bread but you can use any kind you like. You can also use semolina which gives the same effect.
Ok..thanks a lot. I m trying these today 🙂
Hey perzen! The chicken farcha was a show stealer at my party..thanks alot for the recipe!
Absolutely good recipe to try out.
What will be its texture if made in Airfryer
Glad you like the recipe. I haven’t used an air fryer before so couldn’t tell you how it would turn out but I would then recommend that you leave out the egg wash coating. However, what separates the Farcha from another fried chicken IS the egg coating so its a bit of a catch 22 to be honest. Maybe make it like once a month the way its meant to be made? 😉
If you whisk the egg whites till not too stiff, then add egg yolks and mix, the batter is thick and probably can be done in the airfryer.
Dear Ms. Perzen,
Could you please let me know how to make red chilli paste. Many thanks & regards… Farida
Hi Farida, the paste I used for this recipe is ready made. But, you could make a green chilli garlic paste instead to replace the red chilli. To make that you need about 100gm chilli : 100gm garlic : 1 tbsp cumin seeds
Many thanks & regards… Farida
Your recipes are amazing, so detailed and great end product, have tried a few. Thanks so much Farida P. Toronto!
Thanks for this recipe 🙂 I will be trying it out. I’ve tried your Parsi masoor and my kid who isn’t too fond of masoor in general, ate it up
Hi Perzen
Just happened to stumble on your blog n your moms story which got tears streaming down.
Have an iftar party today will be trying your wonderful chicken farcha n your Mom’s keema cutlet recipe.
Have had wonderful parsi friends back in Mumbai so know the flavours…miss it here .
Thank you for your wonderful recipes .
Thanks so much for your lovely words Madiha!
Hi..i want to try this recipe of yours but i dun hv microwave..so wat is d alternative
You can just half cook the chicken on the stove with very little oil in that case. When half cooked, allow to cool and then you can do the steps for frying.
You can also steam it a couple of minutes.
I tried this recipe a couple of days ago and it was much appreciated by the family. I did use an air fryer, even so it came out well. Thank you for all your efforts.
Curious to know, did you use the egg layer when you did the frying or how did you coat the chicken?
I rolled the chicken the bread crumbs first and then dipped in egg just before placing in the air fryer basket. I think that I had more masala on the chicken pieces after microwaving, compared to yours in the pic, which would help the bread crumbs stick.
I have also tried your Moms kebab recipe. I cooked some in the air fryer and some shallow fried. I preferred the texture of the stove top kebabs, but the hubby did not find any difference.
Thanks once again for the recipes.
Excellent recipe….thanks!