Try this Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken easily at home with this easy recipe! Tender pieces of boneless chicken is first marinated and deep-fried until crispy then doused in a thick glaze of sweet and spicy Chinese sauce that coats them along with lots of ginger, garlic, onions and capsicum.
This chilli chicken is crispy on the outside, coated with flavorful sweet spicy sauces on the outside. It is super flavorful, moist, and crispy – everything you want in a chicken starter (appetizer).
Chilli Chicken comes together pretty quickly and can be served as an appetizer or for perfect meal with fried rice.
It’s indulgent, full of flavors and definitely a true chicken lover’s delight.
WHAT IS CHILLI CHICKEN?
Chilli Chicken is a sweet, spicy and crispy appetizer, most popular in Indo-chinese cuisine. Crispy marinated chicken is sautéed in a spicy sweet sauce along with onions and bell peppers. This Chilli Chicken can be made as a dry appetizer or as a gravy to enjoy with rice.
WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED?
Almost all of the ingredients can be found at your local grocery store.
- Boneless Chicken
- All purpose flour and corn flour
- Green onion (white and green parts separated and chopped)
- Ginger and Garlic
- Onion
- Capsicum
- Soy sauce
- Hot sauce
- Tomato ketchup
- Rice Vinegar
- Chilli Garlic Sauce
- Pepper powder
- Salt
- Sesame oil
HOW TO MAKE CHILLI CHICKEN?
Marinate Chicken:
Wash and pat dry chicken pieces. Combine all the marinade ingredients along with chicken pieces. Rub marinade over the chicken pieces to coat each piece evenly with the marinade. Cover the bowl with a cling foil and keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Fry the chicken:
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium flame. Shallow or deep-fry marinated chicken pieces in small batches till crisp and golden from outside. Drain fried chicken in a plate lined with absorbent paper.
Prepare Sauce:
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in wok, add in chopped ginger, garlic, green chili, chopped green onions and diced onion. Stir for a minute but do not brown the onion or garlic.
Add capsicum, vinegar, sauces and salt. Saute for 2 – 3 minutes over high heat.Add the fried chicken pieces and mix well.
Sprinkle sesame seeds and spring onion greens. Simmer chicken over low heat for 2 – 3 minutes. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice or garlic noodles.
TIPS TO MAKE PERFECT CHILLI CHICKEN AT HOME:
- Chili chicken is normally made with bite-sized pieces of skinless, boneless chicken and make sure to cut the chicken into bite-size even pieces.
- The type of hot peppers you use in this dish will be your preference, depending on how spicy you like your food.
- Marinate the chicken for atleast 30 minutes as it makes the chicken pieces juicy and flavorsome from inside.
- Fry chicken over medium heat rather than high heat to allow even cooking from inside, crispy texture and avoid burning. You just want to get it golden brown on all sides.
- Adjust the spice level to taste by adjusting the chili sauce, hot sauce and green chili in the stir fry.
- It is important to keep all the ingredients ready before frying the chicken. This will help to ensure that the chicken remains crispy in the final stir fry.
- When stir frying the veggies, it is important to do so on high heat. This will help to get flash cooked veggies with a slight crunch.
- Serve the manchurian as soon as you can after making it. Indo-Chinese dishes do not take too kindly to being kept for too long. The vegetables lose their crispiness and become soggy.
- Make this chilli chicken as an appetizer or as a gravy depending on how you would like to enjoy it.
CAN WE BAKE THIS CHICKEN?
Yes, instead for deep frying the chicken you can bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 C for 30 minutes or until they are crisp and lightly browned.
HOW TO MAKE IT AS GRAVY VERSION?
To make this with gravy, double the ingredients for the sauce and use 1 cup water along with 1 1/2 teaspoon cornflour to make this more saucy.
HOW TO SERVE THEM?
You can serve this semi-dry gobi manchurian as such as an appetizer. And if you are making a a gravy version, you can serve it with Hakka Noodles or any Fried Rice. It goes really well with plain steamed rice.
STORING AND REHEATING:
You can refrigerate chilli chicken for about five days, so it’s perfect for weekday meal!
You can reheat it in the microwave for a couple of minutes or reheat this is in a pan with a little bit of oil, just like you cooked it.
You might also like,
Burnt Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice
CHILLI CHICKEN RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
For Marinade:
500 gram boneless chicken pieces
1/4 cup cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Oil for frying
For Sauce:
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup capsicum, diced
1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped
1 green chili, finely chopped
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste
For Garnish:
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp spring onion greens
DIRECTIONS:
Marinate Chicken:
- Wash and pat dry chicken pieces. Combine all the marinade ingredients along with chicken pieces. Rub marinade over the chicken pieces to coat each piece evenly with the marinade. Cover the bowl with a cling foil and keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Fry the chicken:
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium flame. Shallow or deep-fry marinated chicken pieces in small batches till crisp and golden from outside. Drain fried chicken in a plate lined with absorbent paper.
Prepare the Sauce:
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in wok, add in chopped ginger, garlic, green chili, chopped green onions and diced onion. Stir for a minute but do not brown the onion or garlic.
- Add capsicum, vinegar, sauces and salt. Sauté for 2 – 3 minutes over high heat.
- Add the fried chicken pieces and mix well.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds and spring onion greens. Simmer chicken over low heat for 2 – 3 minutes. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice or garlic noodles.
RECIPE NOTES:
- Chili chicken is normally made with bite-sized pieces of skinless, boneless chicken and make sure to cut the chicken into bite-size even pieces.
- The type of hot peppers you use in this dish will be your preference, depending on how spicy you like your food.
- Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes as it makes the chicken pieces juicy and flavorsome from inside.
- Fry chicken over medium heat rather than high heat to allow even cooking from inside, crispy texture and avoid burning. You just want to get it golden brown on all sides.
- Adjust the spice level to taste by adjusting the chili sauce, hot sauce and green chili in the stir fry.
- It is important to keep all the ingredients ready before frying the chicken. This will help to ensure that the chicken remains crispy in the final stir fry.
- When stir frying the veggies, it is important to do so on high heat. This will help to get flash cooked veggies with a slight crunch.
- Serve the manchurian as soon as you can after making it. Indo-Chinese dishes do not take too kindly to being kept for too long. The vegetables lose their crispiness and become soggy.
- Make this chilli chicken as an appetizer or as a gravy depending on how you would like to enjoy it.
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