Chicken Tikka Egg Rolls
The charred and spicy flavors of tandoor cooked chicken tikka all stuffed inside a fried egg roll! These are spicy, deeply flavorful, and so crispy. I mixed in some jalapeno, fresno, and shallots to the chicken and it reminded me of a cheesesteak egg roll, but with a lot more flavor! There are so many spices in the tikka marinade and you can really taste them in every bite.
The inspiration for this recipe
For a while I was against the egg roll trend. Let’s put everything into egg rolls! Why? I always prefered spring rolls too, with the thin crispy wrapper. I even made these chicken tikka egg rolls as spring rolls the first time! But as time went by I had some really good egg rolls and I started thinking about making these as egg rolls instead of spring rolls. You need a more sturdy wrapper for these to hold all that heaty meaty filling! They came out immensely better as egg rolls and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers.
Make the chicken tikka marinade
Yogurt with lime, ginger, garlic, and tons of spices! I added some Kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric and more. Let this sit for a few hours or preferably overnight.
Cook the chicken tikka
You could grill this chicken if you wanted. I like to broil it. If you want to grill it, keep the chicken thighs whole. To broil it, chop them up before you marinate them and the sauce gets into every little crevice. I added some shallots, jalapeno, and fresno peppers to the pan with the chicken, then broil. Flip when it gets charred and broil some more!
Make the chicken tikka egg roll filling
After the chicken cools, add it along with any juicees to a bowl and mash it up a bit. You could also chop it but I prefer mashing to get some shreds. You don’t need it to be too fine. Add the mozzarella cheese and you are ready to fill!
Make the cilantro mayo sauce
This mayo sauce is inspired by cilantro chutney. I added a bunch of cilantro to the blender and blended it up with garlic, lime, and mayo.
Make the chicken tikka egg rolls
Add some filling to the wrapper but be careful not to overfill. Then just roll it up! I make a lot of burritos so it’s pretty similar. Use a little egg wash on the final corner to seal it.
Then just fry them up! About 5 minutes in the oil should be good.
A little salt as they cool.
Slice and serve the chicken tikka egg rolls
I like to cut mine like they do at a restaurant. the super long way.
You could drizzle like I did, or serve the sauce on the side. You could also not cut them if you want to just dig in!
The fresh cilantro mayo is so good with the deep and spicy flavors in these rolls! I loved how they came out. So much flavor!
Twists on this recipe
You could do these like spring rolls in the thin wrappers if you would rather. You could also use an actual cilantro chutney instead of my mayo version. And while we are at it, this is one of my favorite recipes for chicken tikka that I use as a guide when making recipes like this.
For more great rolls, check out my bacon broccoli potato rolls, birria spring rolls, or these bacon jalapeno popper grilled rolls!
Chicken Tikka Egg Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken and marinade
- 1 cup full fat greek yogurt
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons grated garlic
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons corinader
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon clove
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs 4 thighs
Cilantro mayo
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 juice of one lime
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mayo
the rest of the egg roll ingredients
- 1 large shallot sliced
- 2 jalapenos seeds removed and sliced
- 2 fresno chili peppers seeds removed and sliced
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg
- 12 egg roll wrappers
- oil for frying
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. If you are grilling the chicken leave it whole, but if you are broiling it like me, chop it up into 1 inch pieces.
- Toss the chicken into the marinade and allow it to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours if not overnight.
Make the sauce
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a blender or food process and blend smooth. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Cook the chicken
- Preheat oven to broil. Add the sliced shallot and peppers into the chicken and toss to combine. Spread the mixture out onto the baking sheet.
- Broil about 10 minutes to brown and char the top. Toss and flip the chicken and repeat for another 10. After the initial 20 minutes, it is probably cooked through, but continue if needed or if you need to brown it a bit more.
- Remove from heat and cool fully.
- Add the chicken to a bowl and smash it up a bit with a potato masher. Alternatively you could put it on a cutting board and chop it up a little. Stir in the mozzarella.
- Whisk the egg with a splash of water.
- Lay out the first egg roll wrapper and add the chicken mixture to the center. Don't overfill! Form it into a cylinder shape. Wrap the wrapper around the chicken making sure not to rip the wrapper and form the egg roll shape. Brush some of the egg wash onto the edge to seal the egg roll. Repeat with the remaining wrappers or until you run out of filling.
- Preheat oil to 375. Fry the rolls in batches until crispy, about 4 minutes per batch.
- Season with salt as you take them out of the fryer. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with the sauce.