Chilli Chicken

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

Filed Under Appetizers and Snacks, Chicken, Good with Drinks, Indo Chinese 

This is the first critically acclaimed dish that I’ve ever cooked. Long time ago, when I was still an amateur cook (ahem… you start a food blog, and immediately you are known as an expert, in my circle at least ;) ) I used to make this dish for all my parties, just because this was the only dish I knew how to cook in bulk!

The best compliment I got on this recipe was when someone asked me a long time ago…

        You’re kidding me right? You actually made this? I thought this was catered!

Restaurant food normally sucks, especially the Indian restaurants here, but ironically anytime someone compares your cooking to restaurant food, it is a good thing! Anyway, over time, I added more dishes to my repertoire, and slowly this one went out of circulation. You can’t call yourself a foodie, and serve a dish that uses ketchup as an ingredient, can you? At least, you can’t tell anyone that you use ketchup in your recipes. So shhhh… . :)

Anyway, I made this a few days ago, when my mom was not in a mood to cook.  Since it turned out really good, I am posting the recipe here, in case some youngster wants to impress strangers.

Ingredients

Method

Cut chicken into small bite sized cubes.

In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt, chili powder and enough water to make a smooth paste.

Add the chicken pieces to the bowl, and mix well to coat the chicken with the flour mixture.

In a frying pan, add enough vegetable oil to deep fry the chicken pieces. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces, making sure the pieces don’t stick together, and fry in batches till the chicken pieces are cooked, but not too crispy.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan, and drain on paper towels.

In a wok, add 2 tbsp of oil from the frying pan, and saute the onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies till the onion pieces are translucent.

Add the 1/2 tsp chilli powder, a little bit of salt and fry till brown.

Now add the fried chicken pieces and cut green onions and mix well to combine. When the chicken pieces are heated through, add soy sauce, ketchup, chili sauce and 1/4 cup hot water and mix well.

Heat on high, stirring occasionally till all the water is absorbed.

Serve hot as an appetizer.  

Note to my vegetarian friends, I’ve made the exact same recipe with cauliflower, and that was a great hit too!

Reminder

Remember, the fruit of the month is Lychee! Have you figured out what to make with Lychees yet? Check out this post for some recipe ideas and details on how to participate!

Don’t forget Monthly Mingle Grill It!

I am hosting Monthly Mingle this month. The theme is Grilling and the deadline is August 15th.

Check out the details here.
 


Comments

27 Responses to “Chilli Chicken”

  1. Jyothsna on August 5th, 2007 7:33 am

    Shhh…. don’t reveal all those secrets :) Sweetie, check out my chilli chicken too.

  2. Sajeda on August 5th, 2007 10:04 am

    too late now!! the secret is out. Chilli chicken looks amazing, I am tempted to try it.

  3. Srivalli on August 5th, 2007 10:19 am

    looking very nice sig….

    Srivalli
    www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

  4. Bharathy on August 5th, 2007 11:05 am

    I too try the same same recipe with cauli,once I tried the same for chiken as well and it came out soooo well…My recipe too is exactly same..:)..Thanx for sharing this YUMMY one..

    Coming to Mathi,I did it in KTM last week,I was there for a couple of weeks Sig.:)…I got the fish cleaned and cut by the maid and I made the dish..No one at home like this except me,so I had to help myself,for the love of fish.U r right Sig..Yep I am a hardddd core N-vegetarian..:)

  5. Sukanya Ramkumar on August 5th, 2007 1:11 pm

    WOW…I was looking for an chilli chicken recipe….Nice to see urs…I think i am going to try this out….Nice recipe…

  6. indosungod on August 5th, 2007 2:53 pm

    Sig, I am not a youngster but sure would use it to impress some of my guests.

  7. Mishmash ! on August 5th, 2007 3:45 pm

    Ur chilli chicken sure looks good…….I have tried it only once i guess….what u said about the co-relation b’wn blogging and expertise is true in our circles too but I hate that , in my case, i struggle to keep up with such expectations!!

    Shn

  8. Asha on August 5th, 2007 4:05 pm

    I agrree about Indian restaurants! After 1 or 2 visits,you feel like puking! Chilli chicken look yum!My fav dish with Pita bread.
    Went around the town yesterday looking for Lychees,couldn’t get it.Going to Greensboro today for it!
    Yesterday Trisha chose a red fully loaded (except leather seats,she doesn’t like it!)Nissan Versa, drives beautifully,will be buying this week.Salesman was Arvind’s patient,so he gave a good deal nad let us test keep it overnight to test drive.It has keyless start and blue tooth tech phone,MP3 plug in, cute for a 16 yrs old,huh?:D
    Good job with the Chilli chicken,I posted one too long time ago!:)

  9. sra on August 5th, 2007 5:36 pm

    Even in India, if someone asks if it came from a hotel, it’s a compliment, at least to me and many people I know!

  10. Cinnamon on August 5th, 2007 8:14 pm

    Looks so tempting Sig, This would be my next chicken dish, for the coming weekend!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

  11. Foodie on August 5th, 2007 8:16 pm

    From looking at the dish I can tell it’s fabulous. Though I am a vegetarian, I make my paneer chili fry like this.
    And thanks for stopping by my blog.
    Loved your comments.
    Hey enjoying the new car???
    I need a ride!!

  12. Cynthia on August 5th, 2007 10:54 pm

    Hey, some non-youngsters might want to impress too :)

  13. Richa on August 6th, 2007 1:25 am

    LOL…. true, being compared to restaurant food is considered complimentary ;) it’s a two edged sword, so many dishes are named ‘home style….’ heh!heh!
    dish looks great!

  14. Amy on August 6th, 2007 1:55 am

    Aw I totally know what you mean, I would love when my food gets compared to restaurant food. :P This chicken is making my mouth water.

  15. Anita on August 6th, 2007 2:17 am

    Serve with naan and raita, and there you have your express meal! you just don’t want to tell us that you are this super-fast cook ;-)

  16. shilpa(aayisrecipes) on August 6th, 2007 2:45 am

    Ohh that looks so good Sig. After starting the blog, I talk like a person who knows all about cooking ;). Whats wrong in taking some complements right? Most of my dishes also were very simple to make. I love your dishes, they are so simple and look so tasty(especially nonveg ones).

    Btw..did I tell you…I am in love with your car. Now when I see any of those cars on road, I tell my husband that it will be my next car ;). I loved your blue color compared to any other.

  17. Sig on August 6th, 2007 3:24 am

    Jyo I just checked out your chilli chicken, looks soooo yummy, and hey you didn’t add any ketchup :D , will be trying that one next.

    Sajeda, :) oops… the secret is out… :) thanks and welcome, your first time here right?

    Srivalli, thanks :)

    Bharathy, :) yeah, this is a very simple common recipe… but when I first started cooking, I had to kind of make it up… so thought someone will benefit from it :)… And lucky you….. having mathi and all…that too getting it cleaned by the maid… some luxuries we can’t afford here :(

    Sukanya, thanks :) hope you like it!

    Indo, hey we are all young at heart right :)

    Shn., lol… I try to bask in the glory… its all relative, so enjoy the fame :)

    Asha, wow seriously you guys are amazing parents! I’m sure Trisha will have tons of fun in it… do post the pic when you get it… BTW Hope you find those lychees :D

    Sra, in India, it is a complement… coz the food is awesome… but over here, the food they serve in Indian restaurants, yukkk…. But those who give the complements, mean well though… so its all okay!

    Cinnamon, thanks, and my next chicken dish would be yours too… :)

    foodie, thanks :) and I enjoyed your blog! About the ride… anytime girl… :)

    Cyn, lol… I’m sure you don’t need a ketchup dish to impress… a pro like you. :)

    Richa, lol.. yeah they are trying to make homestyle, and we are trying hard to be restaurant-like… though we have it easy I’d say :)

    Amy, :) I’d too… if I wasn’t cooking Indian :D

    Anita, aargh… why didn’t I think of that! Here I was, raking my brain to come up with a 30 mins recipe :(… I do have many, but my mom has taken over the kitchen, and never get the time.

    Shilpa, ah I know the feeling… my recipes are sooo simple too, but once I started blogging, people really think I know my stuff … and I don’t really correct them either ;)…
    :) and the car, oooh you should really go test drive one… it is a dream to drive :D

  18. Jeena on August 6th, 2007 6:09 pm

    Hi there, I like your blog! Nice recipe it looks delicious :) Feel free to visit my blog too :)

    Click here for jeenas food recipe blog :-)

  19. Raaga on August 7th, 2007 12:54 pm

    very very nice… will try it with paneer or cauliflower :-)

  20. Padma on August 8th, 2007 1:51 am

    Looking yummy, must have enjoyed them
    Can I come-over?

  21. Anonymous on August 15th, 2007 8:27 pm

    Looks delicious! I’m gonna try this recipe with cauliflower for my vegetarian friends first, then later with chicken. Thanks for this recipe.

    Rg.

  22. roopa on February 19th, 2008 7:56 pm

    hey that looks and makes me want to sluuuuurp:) my dry chilli chicken version never comes out right, thanks for ur recipe.

  23. Chilli Paneer on March 26th, 2008 10:45 am

    […] to try it out. Tarla Dalal has a great recipe for chilli paneer and I also found Sig’s Chilli Chicken recipe quite interesting. I kind of married the two and made my own recipe - don’t we all do […]

  24. nancy on April 28th, 2008 10:04 am

    hi

    i liked this recipe…it is exactly what i want…can some one please email me the timings and temperature required to deep fry the chicken as my chicken turned out to be little harder when i fried it at 350 for 10 min..

    Thanks

    Hi Nancy, I normally don’t check the temp and the time, just look at the pieces and take it out when I feel they are done… 10 mins sure sounds long for this recipe, try reducing it to 6 minutes or so, since you will be stirfrying this again anyway. Hope that helps!

  25. Nishil on May 24th, 2008 11:21 pm

    Tried it today! Awesome… Thanks for all these wonderful recipes. I’m now a big fan of yours :-)

    Thanks Nishil! Glad you liked it…. I really appreciate the feedback!

  26. Priya on July 4th, 2008 11:56 am

    Hey Sig,
    Tried it yesterday, it came out sooooo delicious….!!
    My husband loved it….just stop by to say thank u sooooo much for the great recipe!
    ~Priya

  27. Chilli chicken on July 7th, 2008 12:18 pm

    I have a similar item in indian style :(Beer):

Leave a Reply