Quail Fry / Kaadai Fry

Quail Fry (Kaadia Fry)

Quail fry aka Kaadai fry is a very tasty and delicious non vegetarian recipe. This restaurant style quail fry is a South Indian delicacy. This quail fry is slightly crisp from outside and soft tender meat inside. Perfectly marinated in flavorful spice marinade and deep fried to perfection. Best serve as an appetizer/starter or as a side dish.

WHAT IS A QUAIL OR KAADAI?

Quail is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae.  Coturnix is the Latin word for this species. Quail are the smallest farmed bird. Quail aka kaadai is a small bird similar to chicks, small and round bird, essentially streaked brown with a white eyestripe, and, in the male, a white chin.

Quail has a distinctive call which is less consumed or unique in other parts of India. Nevertheless it is very common and popular in South India. It is prepared in various ways in homes and found in restaurant menus as well.

Quail is one of family favourite. We love it in whatever style it is made. Quail is something which we have love our entire life.

A handful of pantry ingredients is all we need to get an insanely delicious quail fry. This is a super quick recipe as the quail doesn’t take much time to get cooked. It cooks faster as it is small bird with tender meat.

Quail aka kaadai is indeed a great substitute for chicken. Cooking quail is pretty similar to how we cook chicken though it gets cook pretty faster than chicken. But when it comes to taste, it is more tastier than chicken.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS QUAIL FRY AKA QUAIL 65

– it is easy to cook
– it is quick
– it is good for health
– it is tasty and delicious
– it is tender
– needs only a handful of ingredients
– perfect party appetizer/starter
– great side dish with meals
– get cooks under 10-12 minutes

WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO COOK QUAIL (KAADAI)

In this recipe, I have deep fried the quail in oil. Quail can be either deep fry or shallow fried. It tastes good the either way. You can also air fry or bake them in oven. Similarly there are many ways or style to cook quail. In South India kaadai fry aka kaadai varuval is very popular. Apart from kaadai varuval you can make kaadai biryani, kaadai pulao, quail roast, quail masala and kaadai curry. Quail can be fried or cooked as whole or you can cut each quail into 4 pieces.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

● Serve this quail fry as an appetizer/starter simply or with your favourite drink.
● You can serve it as a side dish with your meals.
● You can serve it as a side with chicken biryani, vegetable biryani or prawn pulao.

I hope you find the recipe interesting. Please do share your thoughts about the recipe in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you.

INGREDIENTS THAT GOES INSIDE TO MAKE QUAIL FRY

Quail / Kaadai
Kashmiri red chilly powder
Red chilly powder or paprika
Pepper powder
Coriander powder
Cumin powder
Turmeric powder
Garam masala powder
Lemon juice
Curd/yogurt
Rice flour or cornstarch/cornflour
Salt
Ginger garlic paste
Oil for frying

I made a simple recipe video of this tasty quail fry recipe for my readers which I have shared below. Please do watch and SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t yet. It will mean a lot to me and motivate me to come up with more videos for my readers. As always looking forward to your feedbacks!

QUAIL FRY VIDEO TUTORIAL

HOW TO MAKE QUAIL FRY

Here’s a step by step pictorial instructions to make this delicious quail fry.

Take the whole quail and cut them into big pieces. You can fry the whole quail as it is. I have cut each quail into 4 pieces.

In a mixing bowl add in the marination spice powders one after the other – kashmiri red chilly powder, red chilly powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, lemon juice, curd/yogurt, rice flour, salt and ginger garlic paste.

Mix well the marinade ingredients together well and make a thick paste. Do not add water.

Add in the quail to the marination paste. Mix them well together coating the quail nicely with the marinade.

Keep the quail marinated. Recommend to marinate for atleast 30 minutes. The longer marination the better.

In a frying pan add in the oil and allow to heat up.

When the oil is hot reduce the heat and add in the marinated quail in batches.

Fry the quail on medium heat for approximately 10-12 minutes. Flip them over and fry on all sides until brown and crisp from outside.

Serve the fried quail with sliced onions, slit green chillies and lemon slices.

NOTES:

● Make small incisions on the quail before marination especially if you are cooking the quail as whole.
● You can choose the spice powders as per availability.
● You can use a combination of cornflour (cornstarch) and rice flour.
● I have used kashmiri red chilly powder for getting a beautiful colour. You may opt it if it is not available and increase the red chilly powder if required.
● You can use a pinch of red food colour which is totally optional.
● You can swallow fry the quail as well.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Anchovies (Nethili) Fry
Chicken 65
Prawn 65
Chicken Pakora/Chicken Fritters
Mutton Fry
Fish Fingers
Mutton Chukka
Crispy Fried Chicken
Spiced Fried Chicken
Chicken Masala Stir Fry
Shallow Fried King Fish
Pan Seared Pepper Fish
Pan Grilled Green Masala Fish

All of these recipes are super easy to prepare, ready in no time, and will never disappoint you.

RECIPE CARD

Quail Fry ( Kaadai Fry)

Akum Raj Jamir

Quail fry aka Kaadai fry is a very tasty and delicious non vegetarian recipe. This restaurant style quail fry is a South Indian delicacy. This quail fry is slightly crisp from outside and soft tender meat inside. Perfectly marinated in flavorful spice marinade and deep fried to perfection. Best serve as an appetizer/starter or as a side dish.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Starter, Appetizer, Side dish

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Servings 6

Equipment

• frying pan
• Mixing bowl
• 240 ml measuring cup set

Ingredients

  

• 4 quail / kaadai
• 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilly powder
• 1 teaspoon red chilly powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon curd/yogurt
• 2-3 tablespoon rice flour or all purpose flour or cornflour
• salt as per taste
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• oil for frying

Instructions

 

• Take the whole quail and cut them into big pieces. You can fry the whole quail as it is. I have cut each quail into 4 pieces.
• In a mixing bowl add in the marination spice powders one after the other - kashmiri red chilly powder, red chilly powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, lemon juice, curd/yogurt, rice flour, salt and ginger garlic paste. 
• Mix well the marinade ingredients together well and make a thick paste. Do not add water.
• Add in the quail to the marination paste. Mix them well together coating the quail nicely with the marinade. 
• Keep the quail marinated. Recommend to marinate for atleast 30 minutes. The longer marination the better.
• In a frying pan add in the oil and allow to heat up.
• When the oil is hot reduce the heat and add in the marinated quail in batches.
• Fry the quail on medium heat for approximately 10-12 minutes. Flip them over and fry on all sides until brown and crisp from outside. 
• Serve the fried quail with sliced onions, slit green chillies and lemon slices.

Video

Notes

1. Make small incisions on the quail before marination especially if you are cooking the quail as whole. 
2. You can choose the spice powders as per availability. 
3. You can use a combination of cornflour (cornstarch) and rice flour.
4. I have used kashmiri red chilly powder for getting a beautiful colour. You may opt it if it is not available and increase the red chilly powder if required.
5. You can use a pinch of red food colour which is totally optional.
6. You can swallow fry the quail as well. 

Keyword fried quail, kaadai 65, kaadai varuval, quail 65, quail roast, quail varuval

Well, if you make this kaadai fry, please do leave a feedback in the comments box below or snap a photo and tag Akum Raj Jamir on Facebook and akumrajjamir on Instagram with hashtag #atmykitchen. I would love to see your creations.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you liked the recipe. Your valuable feedbacks are always welcome, I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you.

Happy Cooking!
Love Akum

About Akum Raj Jamir

administrator

Hello Everyone.. I am Akum Raj Jamir. I am a Naga Lady born and bought up from Nagaland. Married to a Tamilian and settled in Chennai now.  I worked in hotel industry for 3 years and later I shifted to corporate sector and worked in US based MNC companies. In January 2014 I was blessed with a baby boy and that it when I decided to quit my job and give me full time for him as well as the home. Now I am a homemaker ☺.  I started cooking at the very small age. We sisters used to help mom in the kitchen and followed the foot step of my mom and that's how I developed my cooking skills. A foodie by nature and a passionate cook, loves everything about food. Cooking is my passion. I love experimenting with food in my kitchen and try to bring the best in whatever I cook. I cook with all my heart and soul and this love is evident in the dishes I cook.  I believe in sharing a lot thus whatever I cook I share with fellow friends and my fan followings. So this space is all about food from my kitchen for foodies like me. Explore the recipes ☺