My air fryer chicken tikka is the good old chicken tikka made in an air fryer with minimal hassle and in significantly lesser time! A perfect win-win recipe which will make you happy and will cheer up everyone else around you with your culinary skill!
When you can make the world-famous chicken tikka in a jiffy using an air fryer, I am sure you will be on cloud 9! Just like I was!
This air fryer chicken tikka was not even in the plan of our recipe to-do list! It just happened that I had a couple of chicken breasts in my freezer and some leftover colored bell peppers!
And that discovery just made it two plus two equal to four! Because what else can you make with this combination of ingredients other than everyone’s favorite chicken tikka!
The reason I made my chicken tikka in the air fryer this time was simply that I wanted to share with you guys how easy & hassle-free it is to make it in an air fryer if you do not have a conventional oven!
If you love kebabs and grilled food but do not want to install a bulky oven in your kitchen, an air fryer will become your best friend! And this recipe of air fryer chicken tikka is another proof of the same!
What is air fryer chicken tikka?
The name of the recipe is a giveaway in itself! So, I don’t necessarily need to explain it in any further simpler terms! But still, please let me do the honor!
When your favorite chicken tikka is made in this tech-wonder of the cooking industry called Air Fryer, it is lovingly called air fryer chicken tikka!
If you are in love with Indian food, I am sure you have ordered this most-loved Indian delicacy called chicken tikka more times than you could remember!
But, with this recipe of homemade restaurant style Air fryer chicken tikka, you will not need to order takeaways any more whenever you crave for this quintessential Indian dish!
Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Tikka
Chicken: You will need boneless and skinless chicken cubes for which you can use either chicken breasts or chicken thighs whichever you prefer. Even though I am a chicken-thigh-kinda-girl, this time I used chicken breast for a change!
Hung curd: If you want to make the best ever chicken tikka which looks and tastes like restaurant style chicken tikka, then you cannot compromise on hung curd! This is a must for making good quality chicken kabab with all spices and aromatics sticking beautifully to the meat and veggies.
Ginger and Garlic: These are always the must-have aromatics for any Indian recipe and you need a generous amount of ginger and garlic paste to infuse the bland chicken breasts with tempting flavors.
Garam Masala: The key spice for a delicious chicken tikka is a good quality garam masala as it packs all the fantastic flavors of whole spices and creates a mind-blowing combination. Make it at home for the best flavors and you will never buy it from outside!
Spices: The additional spice powders that I have used in my air fryer chicken tikka work as complementary to the garam masala. You will need turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and a generous amount of Kashmiri red chilli powder for that vibrant red color.
Salt: Season your chicken tikkas generously with salt to bring out all the flavors of spices.
Mustard oil: Just a couple of tablespoons of oil is all you need here and that is why this recipe of air fryer chicken tikka is extremely low in fat! I suggest using mustard oil as the pungency of mustard oil works best with all the flavorful Indian spices!
Capsicum/bell pepper: In my humble opinion, chicken tikka is not complete if you do not add the bell peppers in between the tikkas! And to make it fancier, I recommend using assorted colors of bell pepper like I used – red, yellow and green!
Onion: Onion petals when charred give out a tempting smoky flavor that compliments the chicken tikka so beautifully that you would not want to miss it!
How to make air fryer chicken tikka?
Step 1: To make hung curd, place a colander over a large bowl. Then spread a cheesecloth or muslin cloth over the colander. Now pour the regular curd over the cheesecloth/muslin.
Step 2: Gather 4 corners of the cheesecloth together and tighten the curd inside it. Now squeeze the curd to let excess water drip off through the cheesecloth.
Step 3: Once Most of the water is drained out, tie the cheesecloth bundle around a tap over the kitchen sink and leave it for an hour or so to allow any remaining water to drip off. Your hung curd will be ready after that!
Step 4: Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts really well. Then cut each chicken breast into 1.5-2 inch cubes.
Step 5: Cut the bell peppers into 1-inch chunks after deseeding them. Peel and cut out large chunks of onions and then separate the petals. Set aside.
Step 6: Now it’s time to make the marinate. Take the hung curd in a large mixing bowl, big enough to hold all the chicken, peppers and onions.
Step 7: Add all the remaining ingredients listed under marinate to the hung curd – ginger & garlic paste, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin & Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala and mustard oil.
Step 8: Using a fork or a wire whisk, thoroughly mix all the ingredients to make a uniform yogurt mixture. The color of the marinate would be bright orange.
Step 9: Now first drop in the chicken cubes and preferably using your hands, coat each piece evenly with the marinate on all sides.
Step 10: Once all the chicken pieces are nicely coated, drop in the bell peppers and onions. Lightly toss or stir them in with a spatula so that they are also coated with the yogurt marinate mixture.
Step 11: Leave the chicken tikka mixture for at least an hour and preferably overnight to allow all the flavors penetrate the chicken pieces.
Step 12: Before threading the chicken tikkas into skewers, first soak a few bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes so that they don’t burn inside the fryer.
Step 13: Once you are ready to air fry, preheat your air fryer to 180 C / 350 F.
Step 14: While the air fryer is getting preheated, let’s thread the chicken tikkas! Take 1 skewer at a time and insert 1 onion petal, 1 bell pepper chunk and 1 chicken cube through the skewer.
Step 15: Then repeat it once or twice in the same order into the same skewer depending on the length of the skewer you are using leaving an inch of gap on both ends.
Step 16: Continue threading all the chicken, peppers and onions in all the skewers and keep them ready.
Step 17: Once the air fryer is preheated & ready, place the chicken skewers inside the fryer basket in a single layer. Do not put one skewer on top of another; then they will not cook evenly.
Pro tip: Depending on the size of your fryer basket, you may have to do it in batches. In my air fryer, I could fit in 6 skewers out of 10.
Step 18: Air fry the chicken tikkas at 180 C / 350 F for 15 minutes, flipping them over once in between.
Step 19: After 15 minutes, increase the temperature to 200 C / 400 F and air fry them for another 2 minutes to give that charred effect on the edges of the tikkas just like you see in restaurant style chicken tikka.
Step 20: Your first batch of air fryer chicken tikka is ready. Repeat the same air frying process for remaining tikkas.
Step 21: Serve your air fryer chicken tikka warm with coriander-mint chutney and onion rings on the side. Enjoy!
More delicious air fryer recipe from Flavor Quotient
- Chicken breast - 500 gms, boneless & skinless (about 2 large chicken breasts)
- Hung curd - 300 gms / ½ cup
- Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
- Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
- Coriander powder - 1 & ½ tsp
- Cumin powder - 1 tsp
- Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 tsp
- Garam masala - 1 tsp
- Mustard oil - 2 tbsp
- Red capsicum/bell pepper - 1, small or ½ of large
- Yellow capsicum/bell pepper - 1, small or ½ of large
- Green capsicum/bell pepper - 1, small or ½ of large
- Onion - 2, large
- To make hung curd, place a colander over a large bowl. Then spread a cheesecloth or muslin cloth over the colander. Now pour the regular curd over the cheesecloth/muslin.
- Gather 4 corners of the cheesecloth together and tighten the curd inside it. Now squeeze the curd to let excess water drip off through the cheesecloth.
- Once Most of the water is drained out, tie the cheesecloth bundle around a tap over the kitchen sink and leave it for an hour or so to allow any remaining water to drip off. Your hung curd will be ready after that!
- Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts really well. Then cut each chicken breast into 1.5-2 inch cubes.
- Cut the bell peppers into 1-inch chunks. Peel and cut out large chunks of onions and then separate the petals. Set aside.
- Now it’s time to make the marinating mixture. Take the hung curd in a large mixing bowl, big enough to hold all the chicken, peppers and onions.
- Add all the remaining ingredients listed under marinate to the hung curd - ginger & garlic paste, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin & Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala and mustard oil.
- Using a fork or a wire whisk, thoroughly mix all the ingredients to make a uniform yogurt mixture. The color of the marinate would be bright orange.
- Now first drop in the chicken cubes and preferably using your hands, coat each piece evenly with the marinate on all sides.
- Once all the chicken pieces are nicely coated, drop in the bell peppers and onions. Lightly toss or stir them in with a spatula so that they are also coated with the yogurt marinate mixture.
- Leave the chicken tikka mixture for at least an hour and preferably overnight to allow all the flavors penetrate the chicken pieces.
- Before threading the chicken tikkas into skewers, first soak a few bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes so that they don't burn inside the fryer.
- Once you are ready to air fry, preheat your air fryer to 180 C / 350 F.
- While the air fryer is getting preheated, let’s thread the chicken tikkas! Take 1 skewer at a time and insert 1 onion petal, 1 bell pepper chunk and 1 chicken cube through the skewer.
- Then repeat it once or twice in the same order into the same skewer depending on the length of the skewer you are using leaving an inch of gap on both ends.
- Continue threading all the chicken, peppers and onions in all the skewers and keep them ready.
- Once the air fryer is preheated & ready, place the chicken skewers inside the fryer basket in a single layer. Do not put one skewer on top of another; then they will not cook evenly.
- Air fry the chicken tikkas at 180 C / 350 F for 15 minutes, flipping them over once in between.
- After 15 minutes, increase the temperature to 200 C / 400 F and air fry them for another 2 minutes to give that charred effect on the edges of the tikkas just like you see in restaurant style chicken tikka.
- Your first batch of air fryer chicken tikka is ready. Repeat the same air frying process for remaining tikkas.
- Serve your air fryer chicken tikka warm with coriander-mint chutney and onion rings on the side. Enjoy!
My most favourite chicken! I adore this stuff and yours look so delicious. Of course, now I want some…..
Hi Nazneen! Thanks for your kind comment and keep dropping by for more recipes! 🙂