Easy Chilli Chicken Dry
Learn how to make restaurant style Indo Chinese Chilli Chicken Dry and Gravy at home with a detailed video. Crispy fried chicken tossed in garlic, onion, capsicum and a spicy Chinese style Sauce.
This quintessential Indo Chinese Chilli Chicken Dry doesn’t need any introduction. Next, to Indian Cuisine, Indo Chinese cuisine is very popular in India. From Street side carts to fine-dine, most of the places will definitely have Indo Chinese dishes on their menu.
We don’t indulge in a lot of deep-fried food, but there are times when the craving kicks in. Earlier we used to have take-outs. While ordering from out is very convenient, the amount of food colour and MSG used always makes me worried. Now that we have a toddler at home, I need to be careful about what she eats.
Making Restaurant style Chilli Chicken Dry or Chilli Chicken Gravy at home is not that difficult you know. I agree its a bit lengthy process, but at least there is no fear of artificial colour or MSG.
Tips for crispy and tender fried Chicken
The first thing for making restaurant-style Chilli Chicken dry is to make the chicken crispy outside and juicy from inside.
The batter to fry chicken is a mixture of cornflour and all-purpose flour. Cornflour helps to make crispy. Then there is egg white. Adding egg white to the batter is optional but it helps to make the coating rich and extra crispy.
It is important to keep the batter of the right consistency. To avoid thin runny batter, drain chicken pieces very well before adding the marination. If still the batter is runny add a little more flour to help with the binding. If the batter is too thick add a little water to it.
Once you got the batter right, next is frying the chicken. Ideally, the chicken is deep-fried. When the oil is medium hot start adding the chicken to the oil. Avoid overcrowding the pan.
Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes before turning them. Frying chicken in very hot oil will burn the outside and the inside remains uncooked.
Can I use Chicken Breast?
I have used chicken thigh fillets here. Chicken thigh is juicer than a chicken breast, so it is always my first preference. If you can’t get hold of the Chicken thigh, you can certainly use boneless chicken breast. If you are using chicken breast, here is a small trick. Toss chicken breast in a teaspoon of cooking soda. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then wash it under running water. The rest of the process is the same as for the thigh.
Adding Cooking soda help to make the chicken breast tender and gives a velvety smooth texture to it.
How to make Chilli Chicken Gravy?
It is easy to make restaurant chilli chicken gravy. The steps are the same as making chilli chicken dry. Increase the cornflour slurry(Cornflour water mixture) to double the quantity mentioned in the recipe. You might need to adjust the seasoning by adding a little more salt to it.
You can always adjust the seasoning by adding more sauce to it. I like the sauce bit sweet and spicy. So I add tomato ketchup to the sauce.
To get the deep red colour of the gravy I prefer to use Kashmiri red chilli powder. It is not spicy but gives a nice deep red colour to the dish.
Few more similar recipes you might like
SPICY CHINESE CHICKEN MEATBALLS & MEAL PREP LUNCH BOWL
CRISPY TOFU IN CHINESE GARLIC SAUCE
CHINESE FIVE SPICE GINGER CHICKEN
EASY CHILLI CHICKEN DRY ( VIDEO RECIPE)
Ingredients
- 500 grams Boneless Chicken thigh Cut in to small pieces
- 2 tbspn vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp fresh minced garlic
- 1 tspn fresh minced ginger
- 1-2 Green chilli
- 1 large onion
- 1 Green bell pepper / Capsicum
- Green Spring onion for garnishing
- Oil To fry
Sauce For Chilli Chicken Dry
- 2 tbsps Dark soy sauce
- 2 tspn Tomato Ketchup
- 1 tspn Red Chilli Sauce
- ½ tspn Kashmiri Red Chilli powder / Paprika
- 1 tspn white vinegar
- 2 tspn cornflour
- 2 tbsp water
For Chilli Chicken Marination
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tspn Kashmiri Red Chilli powder / Paprika
- 1 tspn Ginger garlic paste
- ½ tspn Chilli Sauce
- Salt and Pepper as per taste
- 4 tbspn Cornflour/ cornstarch
- 1 tbspn all purpose flour
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, add all the ingredients mentioned under ‘Sauce’. Keep aside. Note: If making Chilli Chicken Gravy double the cornflour and water amount.
- Start with marinating the chicken. Add All the ingredients mentioned under ‘For Chicken Marination’. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a wide deep pan. When the oil is medium-high heat, add marinated chicken pieces in 2-3 batches.
- Let it cook 2-3 minutes undisturbed before turning them. Let it cook on medium-high heat till chicken is golden brown in colour. Drain chicken and keep it aside.
- Carefully remove remaining oil from the pan once Chicken is fried. Leave 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan.
- Add minced garlic, ginger and slit green chillies. Cook it for 30 seconds.
- Add sliced onion and Capsicum. Cook for a minute. Note: Don’t overcook the vegetables. They should be crispy
- Add the sauce to the pan from Step 1. Mix well.
- Add fried chicken pieces. Mix everything well, until the chicken pieces are coated well with the sauce. Check Seasoning. Add salt if required.
- Garnish with spring onion. Serve immediately.
Thanks for the recipe. It’s amazing. Came out perfect.
LOOKING FOR THIS RECIPE FOR MONTH, AND I THINK THIS ONE IS A PERFECT RESTAURANT STYLE. I HOPE IT WILL COME OUT AS GOOD AS YOURS THIS EVENING. THANKS FOR THE RECIPE.