Easy chilli chicken recipe
Chilli chicken earlier referred to as Chinese Chilli Chicken which was only available as a speciality. Thanks to the pioneer chefs, who understood Indian taste buds and later transformed it into an Indian dish.
Now with the advancement and variations, each region has its own unique way of preparing Chilli Chicken.
Two of the more famous versions are the Dry Chilli chicken which is more of a starter, snack or an appetiser and the Chilli Chicken gravy is of a side dish to noodles and fried rice.
There are different sauces, where you can try out many variations to this simple and elegant dish.
My way of having chilli chicken is to compliment with South Indian layered parotta and enjoy the goodness as in its original form.
Cooking time - 20 mins
Preparation time - 25 mins
Measurements shown serves 4
For frying the chicken
Ingredients required are
Boneless chicken 200 gms, cut into 1 & 1/2' bite-size pieces
crushed black pepper powder - 1 spoon
1 egg
all-purpose flour (maida) - 2 spoons
corn flour - 2 spoons
garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon
sea salt 1 teaspoon
ginger garlic paste - 1 spoon
vegetable oil - 1 spoon
Method
Wash the cut boneless chicken with turmeric powder and set aside.
In a wide plate add ginger garlic paste, crushed black pepper powder, garam masala powder, all-purpose flour, cornflour, egg, vegetable oil & salt.
Mix all the ingredients together to make a paste of creamy texture. Adding vegetable oil to the marinade gives a good coating on the chicken.
Add the chicken pieces and give it a good massage, so that the marinade is coated evenly across the chicken pieces.
Rest the marinated chicken four hours, for better results rest overnight.
Resting the chicken helps reduce frying time & easily achieve soft and spongy texture. Else chicken will turn hard while you fry them.
Heat oil in a Kadai at medium flame, add the marinated chicken pieces, to the full surface of the Kadai. After a minute using the small side of the spoon or ladle stir the chicken, else they may tend to stick to each other.
Two minutes later, Insert a knife or fork into one of the chicken pieces to check if it is cooked.
Marinated chicken takes only 2 to 3 minutes to cook at medium flame.
Take out the chicken from the Kadai and rest aside.
Do not cook at low flame, else chicken will start to lose its juices in the deep fryer and the juicy texture will be lost.
The whole idea of cooking chilli chicken at home is to enjoy the goodness of fresh juicy chicken, which is not available at food junctions.
You may choose to add 2 spoons of maida & cornflour to the marinade, just before deep-frying the chicken. This will create a layer over the chicken.
As my kids prefer to eat chicken this way, I have not added more flour to the recipe.
Ingredients for Chilli chicken
Capsicum - 1 cut into cubes
Onion - 1 cut into cubes
Green chilli - 1 thinly sliced
Ginger - 1-inch size finely chopped
Garlic - 10 pods finely chopped
Vegetable oil for sauteing
Sea Salt - 1 teaspoon
Spring onion bulbs of 1 bunch finely sliced
Spring onion leaves of 1 bunch chopped
Dark soy sauce - 1 spoon
Tomato ketchup - 2 spoonful
Water 200 ml
Corn flour - 1 spoon
Cucumber slices for garnish
Cooking method
In a small bowl add water, soy sauce, tomato ketchup & cornflour, mix all ingredients together.
Take a wide-bottomed pan turn on the stove at high, add 2 spoons of vegetable oil.
Add finely chopped garlic, finely chopped ginger, spring onion bulbs finely spiced, onion cut in cubes and capsicum cut in cubes. You may choose to add capsicum towards the end of the dish also.
Toss the pan and saute the vegetables for a minute at high flame.
Add the water mixture we made earlier to the pan, a minute later add the fried chicken.
Mix all ingredients along with the fried chicken together.
The cornflour in the water mixture helps thicken the sauce and create a creamy consistency.
When you hear the sizzling sound of the veggies and chicken in the pan, season with some sea salt and freshly crushed black pepper.
Toss for a couple of times.
Garnish with some spring onions while in the pan.
For the plating
Thinly slice one fresh green cucumber, add some sea salt, crushed black pepper powder & sprinkle a pinch of red chilli powder.
Indulge your fingers and gently mix the ingredients, serve with hot chilli chicken straight from the pan.
For more insights on cooking method click here Chilli chicken preparation video
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