Chilli Chicken Dry

Chilli Chicken Dry

Ingredients 

A. For The Brine

1. Vinegar 1 tsp

2. Sugar 1 tsp

3. Salt 1 tsp

4. Ice cold water 1 cup

B. For The Marination 

1. Chicken 450 grams

2. Paprika/Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 tbsp

3. Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp

4. Baking powder 1/4 tsp

5. Vinegar 1/2 tbsp

6. Corn starch 3 tbsp

7. All purpose flour 3 tbsp

8. Egg 1

9. Sesame Oil 3 tbsp 

10. Black pepper powder 1 tsp

11. Salt to taste 

C. For Deep Frying 

1. Oil 2 cups

D. For The Sauce

1. Onions cubed 1 medium 

2. Capsicums/bell peppers cubed 1 medium 

3. Green chillies slit 3(optional)

4. Garlic chopped 2 tbsp

5. Ginger chopped 2 tbsp 

6. Garlic sliced 1 tbsp 

7. Spring onion white chopped 3

8. Soy sauce 1 tbsp 

9. Vinegar 1 tbsp

10. Black pepper powder 1 tsp 

11. Chilli garlic sauce 2 tbsp

12. Schezwan sauce 2 tbsp 

13. Sugar 1 tsp 

14. A pinch of salt if needed

15. Sesame oil 2 tbsp 

E. For The Garnish 

1. Spring onion greens

Method Of Preparation 

A. Brine

1. Cut the chicken into bite size thin pieces. (See notes #8)

2. Clean it well & soak in ice cold water & add salt, sugar & vinegar.

3. Refrigerate this chicken for 2 hours.

This step really helps in making the chicken juicy & tender. 

(See notes #1, #8)

B. Marinating & Frying The Chicken 

1. After 2 hours, take the chicken out of the refrigerator. Discard all the water except 4 tbsp. 

2. Add paprika, ginger garlic paste, black pepper powder, vinegar, corn starch, all purpose flour, well beaten eggs, baking powder, salt & oil.  (See notes #2)

3. If you find the marinade too thick after adding the chicken, then you can add a tbsp more of water. 

4. Let the marinated chicken rest on the countertop for 30 minutes. 

5. Add oil in a pan/skillet. When the oil gets hot, drop the chicken pieces gently in the oil & fry them for 3 minutes or until the chicken gets a nice red color. Fry the chicken on a medium-high flame.

(See Notes# 3)

C. Preparing The Sauce

1. Add oil in a pan. On a high flame, add spring onion whites & slit green chillies.

2. Then add the cubed onions, sauté for 30 seconds on high flame.

3. The add the capsicums/bell peppers & sauté for a minute.

4. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, red chilli sauce, schezwan sauce, black pepper powder & sugar. Add salt only if needed. Remember, soy sauce already has salt in it. Turn off the flame. The vegetables need to be crunchy so do not sauté for a long time & make them soggy.

5. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.

6. When it's no more hot, add the fried chicken & mix it well. 

7. Garnish with spring onions. 

8. Serve hot as a starter or with restaurant style fried rice/noodles.

(See notes #4, #5) 

Notes:

1. If you do not have time to soak the chicken in brine for 2 hours, then you can just let it sit in it for 30 minutes. 

2. Make sure the egg is well beaten before adding it to the marinade. If you don't want to add eggs, you can skip it. 

3. If you want the chicken extra crunchy, fry the chicken  till half cooked on medium-high flame, remove the chicken from the oil & after 15 minutes, fry the chicken again in the oil on a medium-high flame till done. 

4. Schezwan sauce is very important in this recipe so do not skip it.

5. The entire cooking of sauce needs to be done on a high flame.

6. I have not added tomato sauce or ketchup. You may add a tbsp of it if you wish to. 

7. If you want the dish to be semi-gravy/semi-thick, then add 1 tsp of corn starch to 1 cup water & add it to the vegetables before adding the sauces. 

8. If the chicken breast is very thick, then you need to slit it into two halves & then cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Very thick pieces will not give you a tasty chilli chicken.

9. Frying the chicken for a very long time makes it rubbery.