Chilli Chicken

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Chilli Chicken is one of the most famous recipes from Indian Chinese Cuisine.

Indian Chinese Cuisine is one of the most loved cuisines in India. It’s not the most authentic because it’s a fusion of Chinese dishes with some of the Indian flavours. Even though the taste of this cuisine is spicy but it is quite balanced with sweet and tangy flavours as it is inspired by Indian cuisine.

In India, every city will have some street food vendors selling this super spicy and delicious Chilli Chicken or Chicken Manchurian or something on these lines. This Chilli Chicken is juicy chicken pieces fried in a spicy batter and then coated with spicy garlicky sauce.

My husband is a huge fan of this cuisine because he loves anything spicy. If I ask my him on a lazy weekend, what would he like to eat, without missing a beat he will say Chilli Chicken! So here I am sharing my take on this recipe and in a few days I will share my husbands recipe too, so stay tuned!

For this dish I like to use boneless chicken thigh pieces as they don’t go dry after frying. I also like to use low sodium soy sauce to control the salt in my dishes but you can use the regular one or a sweeter soy sauce to give that sweet taste. I don’t like to use anything sweet because me and my husband are not big fans.

So here is how you make my version.

Serves 4
Ingredients (For the fried chicken):

250 g boneless chicken thigh cut in small strips or bite size pieces
3 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder or red paprika
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp green chilli sauce
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 egg white
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
Oil for frying

For the gravy:

1 big red onion large diced
1 green capsicum large diced (in sqaures)
1 red capsicum large diced (in squares)
4-5 spring onions finely chopped
10 garlic cloves finely chopped
5-6 green chillies slit in half
2 tbsp chilli sauce (I used Ching’s)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch slurry (mixed with 1 tbsp water)
½ cup water
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

Instructions:

Mix the chicken pieces with above mentioned ingredients and fry them till they are brown in colour. Place them on the paper towel to drain the excess oil.

For the sauce:

Heat oil in a wok, add garlic and sauté on a high flame for a minute. Add in the onion, ginger and green chillies, continue to sauté for 2 more minutes.

Add the capsicum, spring onions and fry till they become soft.

Add all the sauces, mix well. Add water and bring it to a gentle boil.

Add the salt and cornstarch water, keep stirring so it doesn’t form lumps. Simmer for just 2 minutes.

Just before serving add the chicken pieces and on a high flame coat the chicken pieces with the sauce.

Garnish with spring onions and serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

Gayatri Singh