Chili chicken
Chili Chicken is one of the more popular dishes of chicken that originated from China but got famous in India. During British rule in 18th century many Chinese workers came to India through the trade route Calcutta or present-day Kolkata. The many Chinese workers consisted of Cantonese, Hakka, Hubeinese, Shandong and from them the Hakka in particular introduced chili chicken to India, that’s why chili chicken is also referred to as Indo-Chinese dish of Hakka origin. Now let’s make this delicious comfort food that many of us crave.
Chicken: 750gm
Refined oil: 2 tbsp
Black pepper powder: 1/3 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp
Egg: 2
Bell peppers/Capsicum: 2
Onion: 2 medium/ 1 large
Ginger: 1 inch
Green Chilies: 2
Garlic cloves: 5-6
Optional: spring onions & red chilies
Corn-starch: 1 tbsp
Maida/Refined flour: 2 tbsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Tomato sauce: 1 tbsp
Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Red chili sauce: 2 tbsp
Green chili sauce: 1/2 tbsp
Vinegar: 1/3 tsp
Salt: As per taste
Water: 3 tbsp
Let’s start with marinating the chicken. For marination we are going to take the chicken in bowl. To it we are going to add 1 tbsp refined oil, black pepper powder 1/3 tsp, salt as per taste, red chili sauce 1tsp, ginger garlic paste 1tsp and one egg. Now mix all of these thoroughly and set them aside.
Now we will come to the tempering part. For that we will take two bell peppers chop them into diced pieces and do the same to two medium sized onions or 1 large onion, 1 inch ginger to julienne cut (In cuisine world julienne means stripes), 2 green chilies and 5 medium sized cloves of garlic. Other than those, you may use spring onions or red chilies as optional for tempering.
Let’s come back to our chicken now. In the marinated chicken we are going to add cornstarch and Maida (refined flour) in a ratio of 1:2 that means 1 heaped tbsp cornstarch and 2 heaped tbsp maida, 1 tsp oil, baking soda ½ tsp and one egg. Now mix them well until the cornstarch and maida mix coats the chicken pieces evenly through-out.
Now on a high flame take a kadhai/wok. To it add enough oil to fry the chickens. Fry our marinated cornstarch-maida coated chicken until they turn light reddish-golden color, try not to fry them for too long as chicken gets cooked really quickly and we still need to add them to sauce and tempering.
For sauce we will take a bowl. In it we will take 1 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp chili sauce, ½ tbsp green chili sauce, 1/3 tsp vinegar and 3 tbsp water, mix them thoroughly and keep them aside.
For the next step we are going to put another kadhai/fry-pan/wok on low flame. Add 1 tbsp refined oil. To it add a dry red chili and a green chili torn into pieces. Add the onion dices and fry them at low flame for 2 minute and then add the sauce mix to it. To it we will add salt as per taste and 1 tbsp cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce mix and mix them thoroughly. Now to the mix we add our remaining vegies that we had cut for tempering. Mix them well and after that add our chicken and mix them together until they are evenly coated and cook for 5 minutes on low flame and we are done. Now you may serve and enjoy. Have a tasty day.