I have had some great feedback for the Honey Chilli Potatoes and Honey Chilli Chicken that I had posted a while ago. Sweet and Sour Chicken will also tickle similar taste buds for you, but this is much more easier to make than the other two. Firstly, it does not include frying of chicken. Second, you can serve it either as a starter or as a side dish. It pairs really well with just plain rice or with some noodles, chicken fried rice or vegetable fried rice too..

Few things to keep in mind

• Marination Time: For this recipe, the chicken is marinated in soya sauce. If you are able to leave it marinated overnight in the refrigerator, it will really make the chicken pieces tender and juicy. However, if you do not have time, marinate the chicken first and then proceed with the rest of the process. But yeah, there certainly is a difference in the tenderness of the chicken pieces depending on the marination time.
• Starter or Side Dish: This recipe is more or less like a side dish with a little gravy. However, if you plan to serve this as a side dish, add a little cornflour slurry towards the end to thicken the sauce such that it coats the chicken pieces well.

Recipe

Ingredient List

Marination

• Chicken – 500 gms, cut into strips
• Soya Sauce (For marination) – 2 tbsp

For the Sauce

• Vinegar – 1.5 tbsp
• Soya Sauce – 1.5 tbsp
• Tomato Ketchup – 3 tbsp
• Honey – ¼ cup
• Red Chilli Sauce / Paste – 1.5 tbsp

Remaining Ingredients

• Oil – 1-2 tbsp
• Garlic – 8-10 cloves
• Dried Red Chillies – 2-3, broken into smaller pieces
• Bell Peppers – 1-1.5 bell pepper, cut into juliennes
• Roasted Peanuts – ¼ cups (skin removed)
• Chilli Flakes – 2 tsp
• Peppercorn – 1 tsp, crushed coarse
• White Sesame Seeds – 1 tsp (for garnish)
• Spring Onion Greens – 2 tbsp, chopped

Step by Step Process

1. Marinate the chicken in the soya sauce and keep it refrigerated overnight. If you are running short of time, you can leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or while you are preparing everything else for the dish.
2. Next, mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and keep it aside.
3. In a pan, heat some oil and the garlic. Fry it till fragrant and golden brown.
4. Add the dried red chillies and saute for a few seconds.
5. Keep the flame high now, add the marinated chicken and let it cook.
6. Once the chicken is cooked, add the bell peppers and saute for a minute.
7. Now add the sauce that you have mixed and kept aside earlier and let it come to a boil together for 4-5 min.
8. Add the peanuts, red chilli flakes and crushed pepper and mix well.
9. Finally garnish with spring onion greens and sesame seeds and serve hot with some noodles, chicken fried rice or vegetable fried rice.