The Crispy Chicken Lollipop That Steals the Show Every Single Time

About this recipe

Crispy, saucy Indo-Chinese Chicken Lollipop Drumsticks — the ultimate party starter. Bold flavors, irresistible crunch. Your new favorite appetizer awaits.

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The holidays are upon us and you might be looking for some special appetizers to serve your loved ones. These Indo-Chinese Drumsticks truly are Drums of Heaven, and they’re going to be the star of the show!

We’ve got crunchy fried drumsticks that’s bursting with flavor from an Indo-Chinese marinade. You’ll learn how to cut your chicken legs into lollipops, how to make the marinade, and how to fry the chicken drumsticks. We’ll also make a quick and easy sauce where you’ll toss these drumsticks to achieve mouthwatering drums of heaven!

If you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel, then you know the month of November has focused on delicious fried snacks! We’ve explored Crispy Aloo Tikki Chaat, McDonald’s India McAloo Tikki Burger, Buffalo Chicken Nachos with Popcorn Chicken and Crispy Paneer Pakora. My free guide, Make Cooking Fun!!, goes into detail about how having a theme can spark your creativity in the kitchen and really give you a push! I love Indo-Chinese cooking and chicken lollipop is a dish that I’ve never actually tried in India before (raised a vegetarian and when I did eat meat butter chicken and chicken tikka were my go-tos!), but I’ve seen a lot of online and they totally looked delicious. After lots of drooling at my screen, it was finally time to make these - this fried snacks month was the perfect occasion! Now I see where the dish’s name comes from!

If you’ve always wanted to try this Indo-Chinese staple, then be sure to cross these drums of heaven off your bucket list as part of your Live to Cook one month challenge! You can get the challenge and my motivational guide by signing up to my newsletter, plus you’ll get all my new recipes delivered straight to your inbox!

Be sure to watch the video to follow along and grasp all the concepts presented in this recipe! Let’s get cooking!

Four golden-brown chicken lollipop drumsticks on a wooden board, garnished with sliced green onions.

What Is Chicken Lollipop?▼

The dish has this name because the chicken drumsticks have been cut and the skin at the bottom has been removed to reveal the bone. The chicken drumstick looks like a lollipop! In India, these are a popular appetizer at restaurants and they are also served street-side.

What’s the Difference between Chicken Lollipop and Drums of Heaven?▼

The term is used interchangeably in restaurants, however, there is a small difference. “Drums of heaven” means that you toss your fried lollipops in a spicy sauce, resulting in a semi-dry gravy coating your chicken drumsticks. We’ll actually be making drums of heaven here! If you want just the “lollipops”, then feel free to skip the sauce steps.

Crispy fried chicken lollipop drumsticks garnished with sliced green onions on a wooden board.

Why You’ll Love This Indo-Chinese Chicken Lollipop Recipe!

Fun to eat: If you’re a drumstick lover, then you’ll adore these! In fact, you’ll see that lollipops are even easier to eat than regular drumsticks because of the skin removed at the bone.
Insanely flavorful: This chicken has wonderful Indo-Chinese flavors coming from the marinade and from the sauce.
Crispy skin: Who doesn’t love some amazing fried chicken? These Drums of Heaven will be deep fried to perfection! If you’re worried about deep frying then fear not! I’ll guide you through the entire process step by step so you can fry with ease, and you’ll see how much fun it is to deep fry!
Saucy: I love some awesome saucy chicken! The drums will be lathered up in them, and you can dip your drums with even more sauce if you’d like! There’ll be plenty left over in the pan!

Crispy fried chicken lollipop drumsticks garnished with green onions on a wooden serving board.

What Does “Frenching” the Chicken Leg Mean?▼

“Frenching” the chicken leg means removing the skin at the bottom to reveal the bone. It helps making the chicken leg easier and honestly it’s just to achieve the “lollipop” look! This can even be done with chicken wing pieces.

I didn’t know this until researching this recipe, but in India you can actually buy cuts of chicken which are “lollipops,” where this process has already been done for you. I’ve never actually purchased chicken in India before as my family is vegetarian so I had no clue! If you have the option of buying the lollipop chicken, then feel free to do so to save some time and a mess - this is a bit tedious!

Equipment Needed for Drums of Heaven

Tips & Tricks for Lip-Smacking Drums of Heaven

While frenching the chicken, pat the chicken dry and use a paper towel to grip the chicken to make it easier to prepare.
Make sure the oil is not too hot (375F and up). This will cause the crust to develop too quickly and not give the chicken skin the time it needs to render out and become crispy.
Once the chicken has been added, adjust the heat as necessary to ensure the breading does not brown too quickly. The chicken should always be gently sizzling.
Keep the sauce warm to ensure the sauce coats the warm chicken well and keeps it warm.
Do a test piece of chicken to make sure your oil is hot and to allow you to get the hang of the frying!

Glazed chicken lollipop drumsticks coated in brown sauce and topped with sliced green onions on a wooden board.

Ingredients for Drums of Heaven

Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD to see all ingredient quantities and to save the recipe for later. You can also scale the recipe based on how many lollipops you’re planning in preparing, and the ingredient quantities will automatically adjust for you! No need to mentally calculate ratios!

For the Chicken

Chicken drumsticks
Soy sauce
Kashmiri Mirch
Ginger
Garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste
All purpose flour
Corn starch
Vegetable oil for frying

For the Sauce

How to Make Indo-Chinese Drums of Heaven

To Prepare the Chicken

Pat the chicken dry and then prepare the lollipops by "frenching" the chicken, exposing the bone on one end and pushing any meat towards the meaty side. Cut away any excess skin/tendon pieces using sharp kitchen shears.

Frenched chicken drumstick being held with tweezers, showing exposed bone and meat pushed toward the thicker end.

Hands frenching a raw chicken drumstick with a knife, exposing the bone while pushing meat toward the thicker end.

Raw chicken drumsticks frenched with exposed bones on a white cutting board, ready for marinating.

Add the chicken to a large bowl and add ginger, garlic, red chili powder, soy sauce salt and pepper. Marinate for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight.

Raw chicken drumsticks marinating in a glass bowl with spices and seasonings.

Raw chicken drumsticks coated with spices and marinade in a glass bowl during preparation.

Oil being drizzled from a spoon onto marinated chicken drumsticks coated in orange spices in a glass bowl.

Marinated chicken drumsticks coated with spices in a glass bowl, being stirred with a wooden spoon.

Marinated chicken drumsticks being tossed in a glass bowl with spices and seasonings.

Marinated chicken drumstick lollipops coated in spiced marinade before frying, in a glass bowl.

Once the marination is done, heat vegetable oil to around 350 F for shallow frying or deep frying in a wok or pot. To the chicken, add the flour and cornstarch and mix well until you see crumbs on the breading.

Flour and cornstarch being added to marinated chicken in a bowl for coating

Cornstarch being added to marinated chicken pieces in a glass bowl before frying.

Hands holding a breaded chicken drumstick over a bowl of flour coating mixture during preparation.

To Make the Sauce

While the chicken is frying, add all the ingredients for the sauce in a separate pan. Whisk well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until slightly thickened and then turn off the heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Red sauce ingredients simmering in a pan during the sauce-making step of Indo-Chinese chicken preparation.

Red sauce and minced garlic mixture simmering in a gray pan on stovetop.

Sauce ingredients simmering in a wok with red sauce, minced garlic, and ginger being cooked together.

Red sauce simmering in a pan with a wooden spoon stirring, sauce thickening during preparation.

To Make the Drums of Heaven

Carefully, transfer each breaded chicken to the oil and fry until crispy golden brown outside, make sure to turn the chicken every 2-3 minutes to ensure even color on each side.

Breaded chicken drumsticks being placed into hot oil for deep frying in a stainless steel pan.

Golden-brown breaded chicken drumsticks frying in oil in a wok, with red sauce in a bowl nearby.

Once the chicken is added, the oil temperature should drop to 300F, adjust heat as required to ensure the oil maintains this temperature.

After 12-18 minutes, check some of the chicken pieces to see if the internal temperature at the thickest part of the chicken is 165F. For any pieces that are under and the outer breading is golden brown, transfer the pieces on the middle rack of an oven heated at 350 F and cook for 5-10 minutes or until they are cooked through.

Fried chicken drumsticks being removed from hot oil with a slotted spoon, golden brown and crispy.

Once the chicken is ready, toss them with the sauce until coated well.

Golden fried chicken drumsticks coated in red spiced sauce in a pan with a slotted spoon.

Golden-brown chicken drumsticks being tossed in a dark glossy sauce in a pan.

Garnish with green onions, serve hot and enjoy!

Golden-brown chicken lollipop drumsticks coated in sauce, garnished with sliced green onions on a wooden board.

Serving Suggestions

These Indo-Chinese Drumsticks are typically served with an appetizer, so you can enjoy them with pretty much any main! If you’d like, you can serve them with Restaurant-Style French Fries because you’ll already have oil ready to go! Otherwise, feel free to enjoy them with simple Steamed Rice and maybe some Sautéed Garlic-Butter Broccoli if you want to make these the protein for a satisfying meal!

Indo-Chinese chicken lollipop drumsticks glazed in reddish-brown sauce, garnished with green onions on a wooden board.

Other Delicious Chicken Snacks!

Other Indo-Chinese Recipes

Chicken Hakka Noodles

Spicy Paneer Fried Rice

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra

Indo-Chinese Chicken Lollipop Drumsticks: Drums of Heaven

Crispy, saucy Indo-Chinese Chicken Lollipop Drumsticks — the ultimate party starter. Bold flavors, irresistible crunch. Your new favorite appetizer awaits.

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30 min

Prep

20 min

Cook

2 hr

Rest

2 hr 50 min

Total

drumsticks

hard

Level

Ingredients

Tap any quantity to scale

For the chicken

chicken drumsticks
(8 g) ginger(minced)
(8 g) garlic(minced)
(8 g) red chilli powder
(45 ml) soy sauceShop →
salt(to taste)Shop →
pepper(to taste)Shop →
(125 g) all purpose flour(for breading)Shop →
cornstarch(for breading)Shop →
vegetable oil(for frying)Shop →

For the sauce

(33 g) passataShop →
(30 ml) chilli garlic sauceShop →
(45 ml) honeyShop →
(15 ml) soy sauceShop →
(15 ml) sesame oilShop →
(12 g) minced garlic

Instructions

1
Pat the chicken dry and then prepare the lollipops by "frenching" the chicken, exposing the bone on one end and pushing any meat towards the meaty side. Cut away any excess skin/tendon pieces using sharp kitchen shears.
Pat the chicken dry and then prepare the lollipops by "frenching" the chicken, exposing the bone on one end and pushing any meat towards the meaty side. Cut away any excess skin/tendon pieces using sharp kitchen shears.
2
Add the chicken to a large bowl and add ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, soy sauce salt and pepper. Marinate for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight.
Add the chicken to a large bowl and add ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, soy sauce salt and pepper. Marinate for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight.
3
Once the marination is done, heat vegetable oil to around 350 F for shallow frying or deep frying in a wok or pot. To the chicken, add the flour and cornstarch and mix well until you see crumbs on the breading.
Once the marination is done, heat vegetable oil to around 350°F (177°C) for shallow frying or deep frying in a wok or pot. To the chicken, add the flour and cornstarch and mix well until you see crumbs on the breading.
4
Carefully, transfer each breaded chicken to the oil and fry until crispy golden brown outside, make sure to turn the chicken every 2-3 minutes to ensure even colour on each side.
Carefully, transfer each breaded chicken to the oil and fry until crispy golden brown outside, make sure to turn the chicken every 2-3 minutes to ensure even colour on each side.
5
Once the chicken is added, the oil temperature should drop to 300F, adjust heat as required to ensure the oil maintains this temperature.
Once the chicken is added, the oil temperature should drop to 300°F (149°C), adjust heat as required to ensure the oil maintains this temperature.
6
After 12-18 minutes, check some of the chicken pieces to see if the internal temperature at the thickest part of the chicken is 165F. For any pieces that are under and the outer breading is golden brown, transfer the pieces on the middle rack of an oven heated at 350 F and cook for 5-10 minutes or until they are cooked through.
After 12-18 minutes, check some of the chicken pieces to see if the internal temperature at the thickest part of the chicken is 165°F (74°C). For any pieces that are under and the outer breading is golden brown, transfer the pieces on the middle rack of an oven heated at 350°F (177°C) and cook for 5-10 minutes or until they are cooked through.
7
While the chicken is frying, add all the ingredients for the sauce in a separate pan. Whisk well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until slightly thickened and then turn off the heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
While the chicken is frying, add all the ingredients for the sauce in a separate pan. Whisk well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until slightly thickened and then turn off the heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
8
Once the chicken is ready, toss them with the sauce until coated well.
Once the chicken is ready, toss them with the sauce until coated well.
9
Garnish with green onions, serve hot and enjoy!
Garnish with green onions, serve hot and enjoy!

Nutrition per serving

389

Calories

24g

Protein

30g

Carbs

19g

Fat

Fiber

Sugar

899mg

Sodium

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Tested & written in Anadi’s kitchen

Why You’ll Love This Indo-Chinese Chicken Lollipop Recipe!

Equipment Needed for Drums of Heaven

Tips & Tricks for Lip-Smacking Drums of Heaven