Chilli Chicken | Easy Recipe
Indo-Chinese (Sino-Indian) fusion cuisine, better known as just Chinese cuisine in India is one of the most sought after cuisine in the country and Chilli Chicken is the most famous offspring of this fusion. Chinese Cuisine came into India in the late 1700s when the Hakka Chinese Traders settled in the city of Kolkata, known as Calcutta back then. Kolkata was the most easily accessible metropolitan area for the Chinese by land via Assam.
By early 20th century, a Chinatown developed in Kolkata. The place teemed with Chinese people skilled in different trades. But, it was as restaurateurs that the Chinese left their mark on the country. The Sino-Indian cuisine was born in the early 20th century with the opening of Eau Chew, the first such fusion restaurant in Kolkata. Popularity of this new cuisine spread by word of mouth and soon restaurants cropped up all over the region. Over time, the Chinese immigrants migrated to other parts of India. Even in my hometown of Mangalore, the popular Chinese restaurant Hao-Hao is run by a family of Chinese origin, who moved to Mangalore from Kolkata in 1976.
Sino-Indian cuisine is defined by bold flavours created by mixing Chinese spices with traditional Indian ingredients. Basically, it is nothing but Chinese food adapted to Indian tastes. Upon arrival in India, as any immigrant would in their new country, the Chinese too assimilated Indian culture and sensibilities. They realized Indians love their food spicy and greasy and adapted their cuisine to local tastes. These dishes in general constitute of Soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic and hot chilli peppers used in a generous measure as primary ingredients and not just as mere seasoning.
The Chilli Chicken
As mentioned earlier, the Chilli Chicken is an offspring of the Sino-Indian fusion cuisine. There are different variations of this dish ranging from dry, semi-dry to gravy preparations. There are variations in this dish based on the region too, like the South-Indian style Chilli Chicken. Although usually made with boneless chicken meat, some prefer bone-in Chilli Chicken too. In spite of the variations, the basic cooking principle remains true to Sino-Indian cuisine wherein the hero ingredient is usually seasoned/ marinated and fried and then tossed at high heat for a few minutes with crunchy veggies in a signature sauce.
The recipe I have for you is a quick and relatively simpler way of making Chilli Chicken with minimal ingredients, enabling you to put it on a serving dish in no time. Boneless chicken is sliced into strips and seasoned generously with salt and pepper. The chicken strips are then dipped in a egg wash and flour and shallow fried until golden brown. An optional step to add an extra layer of heat and zing to the dish if you desire, is to season the flour with some chilli powder.
Although onions, ginger and other crunchy veggies could be used in this recipe, but to make this recipe less time consuming, I went in for only capsicums. Julienned Capsicums (use a mix of colours) are added to the pan and fried for a couple of minutes and set aside along with the chicken. Ensure that you do not overcook the veggies and lose the crunch. Follow this by making the sauce by simmering minced garlic, cayenne pepper (substitute with green chillies), soy sauce, tomato puree and water until the mixture thickens and turns syrupy.
Return the fried chicken and capsicum back to the frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes until the chicken and veggies are well coated with the sauce. Take it off the heat and serve hot with some rice or just as it is as an appetizer.
Continuing with the Sino-Indian flavour, if Pork is your meat of choice, do try my Chilli Pork and Pork Pepper-Fry
Chilli Chicken
Equipment
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 500 gms Boneless Chicken, washed, dried and cut into thick strips
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper powder
- 100 gms All purpose flour
- 1 tbsp Chilli powder, Hot
- 1 Egg, beaten
- Vegetable Oil, (for frying)
- 1 Red Capsicum, julienned
- 1 Green Capsicum, julienned
For the Chilli Sauce:
- 4 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Cayenne pepper, diagonally sliced thin
- 4 tbsp Soy sauce, Dark
- 3 tbsp Tomato puree
- 100 ml Water
Instructions
Frying the Chicken and Capsicum:
- Season the chicken strips with salt and pepper and set aside for a few minutes
- Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat for shallow frying
- Mix the Chilli powder (if using) with the flour
- Dip the seasoned chicken strips into the egg wash and then coat them with the seasoned flour
- Shallow fry the coated chicken strips until they turn golden brown all over
- Add the capsicum and fry on medium high heat for a couple of minutes. Do not over cook the capsicum. They should retain their crunch.
- Remove the chicken and the capsicum to a plate and set aside
Making the Chilli sauce:
- In the same frying pan, add the minced garlic and the sliced cayenne pepper and fry for a minute on medium heat
- Add the soy sauce, tomato puree and water and give it a good mix
- Simmer the mixture, stirring continuously until it reduces and turns syrupy thick
Making the Chilli Chicken:
- Add the fried Chicken and Capsicum to the sauce, give a good mix until they are well coated with the sauce and take it off the heat.
Serving suggestion:
- Serve the Chilli chicken with some rice or as is as an appetizer. Enjoy!
Very easy and simple recipe. The plain fried chicken without the sauce tastes like kfc chicken.
Thank you Glarin for your review and feedback. Glad you loved the recipe.
I wanted to try the Chilli Chicken recipe as soon as it was posted by One Plate Please on the Hungry Mangy facebook group. It was easy to make, tasted delicious and there were no leftovers. My son and family enjoyed every bite of this chicken.
I personalised it by adding a tbsp. of rice wine vinegar in step 2 of making the chilli sauce to balance the flavour and taste.
I am very happy with this recipe and will do it again.
Thank you for this great recipe.
Thank you Lavina for trying out my recipe and for the lovely review. I’m glad you and your family loved it!