Easy Chilli Chicken with gravy recipe with step-by-step photos and a video. It is one of the popular chicken appetizers ordered at many Chinese restaurants in India. You can serve chili chicken with egg fried rice, veg fried rice, or noodles.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: Starter
Cuisine: Indo-Chinese
Servings: 4people
Calories: 277kcal
Author: Preeti Nayak
Ingredients
For marinating the chicken
300gboneless chickencut into1-inch cubes
1teaspoonblack pepper powder
1teaspoonKashmiri red chili powderoptional
salt to taste
1teaspoonlight soya sauce (low sodium preferred)
1teaspoonrice vinegar
1teaspoonginger garlic paste
½egg white (from 1 egg)
For the batter
1tablespooncornstarch/corn flour
3tablespoonmaida (all-purpose flour)
For making the chili chicken gravy
2teaspoonoil
1teaspoonfinely chopped ginger
2teaspoonfinely chopped garlic
3tablespoonspring onion whites
2tablespoonspring onion greens
¼cupred bell pepper, cut into cubes(red capsicum)
¼ cup green bell pepper, cut into cubes(green capsicum)
¼cuponions, cut into cubes
2green chilies, (add as per taste)
1teaspoondark soy sauce
For the sauce
2tablespoonlight soya sauce (low sodium)
2teaspoonred chili sauce
1 teaspoonblack pepper
4tablespoontomato sauce
1teaspoonrice vinegar
salt to taste
To make corn flour slurry (used in making gravy)
1tablespooncorn flour
1cupwater
Instructions
Preparations
Marinate the chicken - In a mixing bowl, combine chicken, salt, pepper, Kasmiri red chili powder, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, egg white and soy sauce. Marinate for 30 minutes.
For the sauce - To a small mixing bowl, combine light soy sauce, red chili sauce, black pepper, tomato ketchup and vinegar. You can taste it and adjust the seasoning as per your taste. Set this aside.
Chop the vegetables and set it aside.
Keep all the sauces and spices ready.
Fry the chicken
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat.
Add flour to the marinated chicken. Combine it well. If needed, you can add one more tablespoon of all-purpose flour or cornstarch. Not more than that, we do not need a thick coating on the chicken.
Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil. Do not stir immediately. Let it fry for a minute.
Gently stir and fry until it is golden and crisp. Remove it to a plate line with paper towel.
Making the Chilli chicken gravy recipe
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a deep bottom pan over medium heat.
Add ginger, garlic, spring onion whites and green chillies.Stir-fry it for 30 seconds.
Next, add green bell pepper, red bell pepper and onioncubes. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the prepared sauce-mix and stir to combine.
Next, add the fried chicken and combine. Dry chilli chicken is ready.
Give a quick stir to the cornflour slurry and add it to thepan.
Stir continuously until the gravy thickens.
Add 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional) and combine.
Taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning. Remove from heat.
Garnish with spring onion greens.
Chilli chicken gravy is ready. Serve hot and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Marinate the chicken for about 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. It will make the chicken pieces more juicer and flavorful.
While frying the chicken, make sure the oil is not too hot. If you drop the batter in the oil, it should come up immediately but should not get brown quickly.
Do not over-fry the chicken. It will make the chicken pieces hard.
If the oil is not hot enough then the chicken will absorb oil while deep frying it.
Be careful while adding cornflour slurry to the pan. Stir it continuously to avoid lumps.
Addition of Kashmiri red chili powder while marinating the chicken is optional. It gives a bright red color to the dish.
If you do not have vinegar then replace it with lemon juice.
All the sauces especially soya sauce have salt in them. Take care while adding salt to the recipe.
If you are making it for kids, do not add green chili to the recipe.
Do not make this dish ahead of time. It should be prepared and served immediately or else it will not remain crisp.
The addition of dark soy sauce is optional. When you add cornflour slurry, the gravy becomes light in color. To enhance the color, dark soy sauce is added.