Andhra Chicken Fry | Kodi Vepudu

Andhra Chicken fry, also known as Kodi Vepudu or Chicken Vepudu is an authentic South Indian way of making stir-fried chicken with a delicious coat of spice mixture.

This is one of those dishes that are on the top of the list for an out-of-the-world comforting meal and reminds many of their delicious childhood memories!!

If you are not from India, it might be a little confusing to call a stir fry chicken dish as chicken fry, but that is the common way of naming many stir-fry dishes especially in South India. Hence the name Andhra Chicken fry!!

Andhra Pradesh is a state in South India and it is famous for awesome spicy dishes. This dish is also called Kodi Vepudu or chicken vepudu where Kodi means Chicken and vepudu means stir fry.

If you are also looking for more Indian-style Chicken dishes with gravy, then check out my awesome Chicken Karahi or Chicken Palak.

Feel free to use the button at the top of the page to go to the recipe directly or the table of contents below to go to any section of the page you want. The recipe card has all the information that is needed to make the recipe perfectly. However, I try to provide as much useful information in the post for the readers who are looking for it.

Jump to:

• How to make with step by step pictures
• Top Tips
• More South Indian Recipes you might love
• Storage and Reheating
• What to Serve with
• Recipe

How to make with step by step pictures

Preparation 

• Clean the chicken and cut it into pieces. If you choose chicken with bones ( which is the best for this recipe) then cut into medium size pieces, or if you choose boneless chicken then cut into small cube sized pieces.
• Add all the marination ingredients to the cut chicken and coat it evenly. Cover it and marinate for half an hour in the refrigerator.
• Dice a big onion ( red onion preferably ) into small pieces.

How to make Andhra Chicken fry

• Heat a stir fry pan with oil or ghee or a mix of both half and half. When the oil is hot add cumin seeds, slit green chili, curry leaves, broken cashew pieces and saute for a minute.
• Then add diced onions along with a little salt to help onions cook faster. Saute until onions are starting to turn into golden color. 

• Add coriander powder, red chili powder, and saute for a few seconds.
• Now add the chicken pieces, mix well to coat with onion masala, and cover and cook until the chicken is 75% cooked while stirring every couple minutes. DO NOT add any water, let the chicken cook in its own juices and steam.

• Then open the lid, add gram masala, more red chili powder if you are using, mix well and continue to cook until all the extra moisture is evaporated and chicken pieces are coated with a thick spice mixture. Make sure NOT TO overcook as the chicken pieces will get all fibrous and will not taste good. 
• Check the taste and add any spices or salt if needed and garnish with cilantro before turning off the heat. Take it into a serving dish.
• Final IMPORTANT STEP: In a small tempering pan, heat 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil and add a sprig of curry leaves and slit green chilies and saute until crispy fried. Now add this mixture along with the oil or ghee on top of the chicken fry in the serving dish. This tempering gives an awesome spicy and yummy kick to this chicken fry ( Kodi Vepudu) and takes it to the next level.
• Serve hot with rice and rasam on the side ( South Indian tomato soup) along with fryums for an out-of-the-world comforting meal.

Top Tips

Let's go through a few important tips to make sure you make an excellent South Indian Chicken fry.

• Skinless Chicken thighs with bones are the first choice for this dish for getting an awesome authentic taste. But if you can also choose boneless chicken thighs( which is what I used today) if you prefer. Do not forget to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
• Always dice the onions into very small pieces as the onions sauteed along with spices will turn into a delicious coated spice mixture for the chicken which is the main secret of the dish.
• Don't forget to COVER and COOK until the chicken is cooked more than half way through to make sure Chicken doesn't get dry and fibrous.
• Add any extra ground spices you want after you UNCOVER the dish and start evaoprating all the extra moisture towards the end.
• Do not skip the final tempering step if you want an authentic spicy kick!!

More South Indian Recipes you might love

• Tomato pachadi | South Indian Tomato chutney
• South Indian Boiled potato fry | Easy Potato Poriyal
• Cabbage fry Andhra style | Cabbage and green peas poriyal
• Bendakaya Pulusu | Sweet Sour & Spicy Okra Curry
• Brinjal Fry | Vankaya Fry

Storage and Reheating

This South Indian Chicken fry can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. To reheat it

• In the microwave : Reheat in the microwave covered with a microwave safe lid or a damp paper towel until heated through.
• On stove top: Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water to the heating pan and then add chicken fry to heat it. Cover it and heat it on low to medium heat until heated through. Adding water before makes sure the dish doesn't get too dry when heating and provides enough steam to heat the dish through.

What to Serve with

Serve this Andhra Chicken fry or Kodi Vepudu with steaming hot rice, rasam ( South Indian tomato soup) on the side, and some fryums. It is super hard to resist this meal for any spice lover.

Print

Recipe

We love to hear from you. Did you try this recipe? Let us know your feedback in the comments below and rate the recipe using the star rating. You can follow us on Facebook and Pinterest to see what's cooking in our kitchen!! Happy Cooking !!