Restaurant Style Chilli Chicken
Author: 
Recipe type: Side
Cuisine: Indo-Chinese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6 servings
 
Ingredients
  • Skinless Chicken breast – 500 gms
  • Oil for deep frying and for sauce
For brining
  • Cold water – 1 cup
  • White wine vinegar – 1 tsp
  • Sugar – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Ginger-garlic paste – 1 & ½ tbsp
  • Black pepper powder – ½ tsp
For batter
  • All purpose flour (Maida) – 1 cup
  • Cornflour – ½ cup
  • Refined vegetable oil – 4 tbsp
  • Baking powder – ¼ tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Water as required
For sauce
  • Green onions – 5 to 6 [I didn't have it handy, so I skipped it!]
  • Yellow bell pepper – 1, small, cut into triangles
  • Green bell pepper – 1, small, cut into triangles
  • Onion – 1, medium, cut into squares and each scales separated
  • Ginger – 1 inch piece, chopped very finely or grated
  • Garlic – 10 to 12 cloves, minced
  • Dry red chilli – 2
  • Dark soy sauce – 5 tbsp
  • Tomato ketchup – 3 tbsp
  • Red or green chilli sauce – 3 tbsp or more if you like more heat
  • Sugar – 1 tsp
  • Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
  • Salt to taste
  • Cornflour – 2 tsp
  • Water as required
Instructions
  1. Cut the chicken breast lengthwise into long strips. Then cut each strips into bite-sized pieces keeping your knife at 45 degree angle.
  2. Mix the brining ingredients together – salt, sugar, ginger-garlic paste, black pepper powder, white wine vinegar and water. Add cut chicken into it and keep refrigerated for 1.5 to 2 hours. This brining process makes the chicken extremely tender and juicy after cooking.
  3. After 2 hours, prepare the batter for the chicken. Mix all-purpose flour, cornflour, baking powder, salt and oil. Mix well and then add enough water to make a thick batter. Don’t make it too runny; the batter should coat the chicken very well.
  4. Take the chicken out from the brining solution and add to the batter.
  5. Heat enough oil in a deep frying skillet and let the oil smoke. [High smoking point oils like canola or sunflower oil work best for this recipe.]
  6. Take each chicken piece out from the batter and tip into the hot oil. Do not crowd the skillet too much as that would bring down the temperature of the oil making the chicken soggy.
  7. Fry the chicken pieces in batches until very lightly browned. Take them out on a kitchen towel. We will fry these chicken pieces again till done. Double frying makes the chicken very moist and juicy.
  8. Rest the chicken for 15 minutes after first frying. After 15 minutes, deep fry the chicken pieces again until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. To check if the chicken is properly cooked, cut a piece of chicken and check if any traces of pink are left. If not, chicken is done.
  9. To prepare the sauce, heat another wok and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
  10. Add the dry red chilies, minced ginger, chopped garlic and the chopped white part of the green onions, if using. Sauté on high flame.
  11. Tip in the chopped bell peppers and onions. Cook them until soft.
  12. In the meantime, prepare a slurry by mixing the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside.
  13. Once the bell peppers and onions are nice and soft, add the cornflour slurry. Stir to mix well.
  14. Next add the dark soy sauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketch up and keep stirring. Add a cup of water and keep sautéing on high heat.
  15. Add sugar, salt and black pepper powder. Mix well. The sauce would have thickened by now.
  16. When the sauce reaches your desired consistency, turn the flame off. Let it sit for 5 minutes so that the steam escapes.
  17. Now add the fried chicken and toss the wok to coat all the chicken pieces well with the sauce.
  18. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the green portion of the green onions. I garnished with sesame seeds since green onions were missing in my pantry.
  19. Serve your yummy chilli chicken as a delicious appetizer or with Chinese fried rice! Enjoy!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at https://www.flavorquotient.com/2014/10/chilli-chicken/