Chilli Chicken

If you think of Indo-Chinese Chicken recipes, then Chilli Chicken will probably top the list. When traveling in the North of India, we had this food combination of Tandoori Roti, Dal Fry and Chilli Chicken. Sounds odd, right? But try ordering this from the dhabas and you will know why we loved this combo..:)

Chilli Chicken can be served as a starter or as part of your main course with either Indian or Chinese food. That’s how adaptive our Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken can be..;)

Few things to keep in mind

• Frying the chicken: I like to cut the chicken pieces as bite size pieces. And after coating them in the batter, make sure your oil is hot before you put in the chicken. And don’t fry them for too long, else the chicken will become hard and loose it’s juicy texture.
• Salt and Sugar: Avoid adding salt and sugar to the sauce till all chicken is well coated in it. Reason being the amount of salt and sugar in the various sauces you use for this recipe will vary depending on the brand. So once everything is in the hot pan and you have tossed it around well for a while, check for the taste. And then add salt/sugar, as needed.

Recipe

Ingredient List

• Boneless Chicken – 300 gms, cut into medium size cubes

For Marination

• Flour – 3 tbsp
• Cornflour – ¼ cup
• Red chilli paste (or red chilli sauce) – 2 tsp
• Soya Sauce – 1 tsp
• Pepper – ¼ tsp
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp (optional)
• Water – enough to make a thick batter

For the Sauce

• Garlic – 5-6 cloves, finely chopped
• Onions – 1 big or 2 small, cut into squares
• Spring onions – a handful, chopped
• Green chilli – 1 big or 2 small, slit into 2 or 4
• Capsicum – 1 medium size, cut into squares
• Vinegar – 1 tsp
• Soya Sauce – 1 tbsp
• Green Chilli Sauce – ½ tbsp
• Red Chilli Paste – 2 tbsp (can reduce this for lower spiciness)
• Tomato Ketchup – 1 tbsp
• Salt – ½ tsp, if needed
• Sugar – ¼ – ½ tsp, if needed
• Pepper – ½ tsp
• Water – ¼ cup

Step by Step Process

1. In a bowl, add all the ingredients listed for marination and make a batter of medium thickness.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Dip the chicken pieces in the batter and coat them. Add these to the hot oil and fry on medium heat till golden brown.
3. Take care not to deep fry the chicken pieces for a long time, else they will turn dry. We are not looking for crispy fried pieces. The chicken pieces can also be pan fried, instead of deep frying.
4. Remove excess oil from the pan and leave just a tsp or two oil behind.
5. Saute the garlic in the oil till fragrant. Add the onions, spring onion whites and green chillies and continue to saute on high flame for a min.
6. Add the capsicum and saute for another minute.
7. Reduce the flame and add the vinegar, soya sauce, green chilli sauce, red chilli paste / sauce and tomato ketchup. Increase the heat and continue to saute.
8. Add the pepper powder and water and let the sauce come to a boil and thicken a little.
9. Add the fried chicken pieces to the sauce and let the sauce coat it completely. Check the taste and add salt and sugar, if needed.
10. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.