Dry Chilli Chicken

Dry Chilli Chicken

Practically almost all Indians, and particularly Calcutta folks have grown up on Chinese food - customized in their own way.The vibrancy and taste in an Indianis-ed Chinese dish is noteworthy.
Who else is better than customizing Chinese food than we Indians.Almost every 2nd street food thelawala sells Chinese Merchandise - sprry fore pun , I mean Chinese Food.Numerous times when the cook has given the day a miss and when you dont really feel like cooking, the Chinese street food comes to the rescue.Also those times when friends came over for a drink then the first starter that used to come up for grabs were Chilli Chicken. But not any more.When I developed a core interest in cooking I have almost given up on outside food.It takes some amount of time,but the satisfaction and end result of cooking a self cooked menu is always a couple of notches higher.

Last Friday, we had returned early from the office.And like most Friday evenings we felt to enjoy a drink.We had home made food prepared by the cook.But as usual were devoid of starters. Thats when this Chilli Chicken recipe came in handy.

Heres a Dry Chilli Chicken Recipe which you can enjoy.Its easy to prepare,Indian custom made and tasty.

There are three stages of preparing a Chilli Chicken. First is preparing the batter, second comes frying the chicken and next is cooking the chicken.

Stage I: Preparing the Batter
Ingredients:

• Boneless Chicken -  250 gms.Cut into 1 inch cubes.
• Corn Flour - 4 tb sp.
• Egg - 1.
• Dark Soya Sauce - 2 tb sp.
• Green Chilli Sauce - 2 tb sp.
• Salt: To taste.

Mix the ingredients together and keep aside for 2 hours.

Stage II - Frying the Chicken

• Ingredients: Marinaded Chicken Slices.
• Vegetable Oil - 6 tb sp. 

Procedure:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a wok.
• Once oil gets hot, take the chicken slices from the batter and fry until the chicken pieces turn golden brown.
• Remove the fried chicken pieces and put them on a tissue to soak in the excess amount of oil.

Stage III:Cooking

• Green Chilli - 3.Slit.
• Garlic - 4 cloves.Sliced.
• Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp.
• Onion - 1 Medium.Peeled Slices
• Capsicum/Bell Pepper/Smila Mirch - 1 
• Dark Soya Sauce - 2 tb sp
• Fried chicken pieces.
• Vegetable Oil - 3 tb sp
• Brown Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - To taste

Procedure:

• Under medium heat the vegetable oil in a wok.
• Once the oil gets hot, add the sliced garlic,black pepper and green chillies.
• A garlic-y smell will evolve with a touch of the green chillies that will leave you almost sneezing in the kitchen.
• Add the Peeled Onion Slices and Capsicum to the wok.
• Add some brown sugar to the mixture.
• Wait until the onion turns brown and the rawness of the capsicum disappears.This should require around 7-8 mins from the point of adding. 
• Then add the fried chicken pieces.
• Stir the mixture for a couple of minutes, then add the dark soya sauce.
• Ensure that the soya sauce mixes properly with the ingredients in the wok.
• Set the oven to LOW.
• Add a little amount of water and put a lid on the wok.
• Let the chicken cook for 35-40 mins. Check every 10-12 mins to ensure that the water level does not dry up and the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan.
• At the end of 40 mins, the chicken should be well cooked and tender and dry.

Put some toothpick on the serving dish to pick up the chicken pieces and enjoy with your drinks.