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You are here: Home / Chicken Recipes / Chilli Chicken Recipe, How to Make Chilli Chicken

Chilli Chicken Recipe, How to Make Chilli Chicken

November 1, 2022 78 Comments

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dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken
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Dry chilli chicken, easily the most popular Indian-Chinese chicken recipe for the meat lovers. It’s spicy (it’s called chilli chicken after all), it’s got a crunch from the flour coating over the chicken and the capsicum, and it’s really quite delicious. When TH asks what’s the one thing I’d say he’s missing being a vegetarian, my answer is usually a very confident “chilli chicken for sure”.

So yes, we all know it and love it but how do we make chilli chicken at home? If you’ve attempted to make any manchurian or Indian Chinese dishes at home, you’ve probably felt it’s not the same as what we get in the restaurants. The key reason for this is that they deep fry things without worrying about health or calories and we would probably hesitate. At least, that’s my theory. So this chilli chicken recipe is as close to how a restaurant would make it but I haven’t added any MSG which they are sure to add in chilli chicken. I also haven’t used any food colour because I really don’t think that’s necessary.

Looking for a vegetarian alternative? Check out my super easy gobi manchurian recipe.

Table of Contents

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  • CHILLI CHICKEN RECIPE INDIAN-STYLE
    • Ingredients  
    • Instructions 
    • Notes

Chilli chicken pairs really well with:
Mushroom fried rice
Egg fried rice
Chicken fried rice
Vegetarian fried rice
Vegetable noodles
Broccoli and mushroom fried rice

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chickenPin

The key in making a good chilli chicken is in the seasoning of the flour batter in which the chicken is fried. That can really make or break your dish to a large extend. I recommend experimenting a bit because it’s nearly impossible to get the exact same result even if you closely follow my recipe. Your corn flour is going to be a different brand, ground differently, the weather is not the same and you most definitely won’t be able to get the same consistency as I did for the batter. I know, sounds like a lot of bad news. But fear not, I am yet to make an inedible chilli chicken. No matter how it turns out, you can ‘fix’ it or just eat it anyway.

chilli chicken recipePin

CHILLI CHICKEN RECIPE INDIAN-STYLE

nags
Chilli chicken is a popular Indian-Chinese appetiser that goes fabulous as a side dish to fried rice or noodles too
4.38 from 8 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Chicken
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams of boneless chicken pieces cubed

For batter:

  • 1/2 cup of plain flour maida
  • 1/4 cup of cornflour or cornstarch
  • 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste
  • 1/4 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp of soya sauce
  • 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder

For stir-frying:

  • 1 tbsp of oil
  • 1 cup of cubed onions
  • 1/2 cup of cubed capsicum bell pepper
  • 2-3 green chillies slit
  • 1 tsp of crushed garlic
  • 1 tsp of grated ginger
  • 1 tsp of tomato ketchup
  • 1 tsp of vinegar or lime juice
  • 2 tbsp of minced spring onions or coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Clean and cut the chicken pieces into bite-sized cubes
  • Prepare the rest of the ingredients and keep it ready
  • Mix all the ingredients for the batter and add enough water to make a thick batter (similar to bajji batter)
  • Add the chicken pieces to this
  • Heat oil for deep frying
  • When the oil is smoking hot, add the chicken pieces thoroughly coated in the batter
  • Fry on medium heat until golden brown
  • Drain and set aside
  • Proceed with the next batch until all the chicken is fried
  • Drain and set aside
  • Heat oil and add the onions, ginger, garlic, and green chillies
  • Saute until the onions turn transparent and soft
  • Then add the soya sauce, vinegar or lemon juice, and tomato ketchup
  • Saute for 2 more minutes
  • Then add the fried chicken pieces and capsicum
  • Sprinkle some water and cover the pan
  • Cook on very low heat for 4-5 mins or until the ingredients come together nicely
  • Uncover, give everything a good mix, check for salt and add more if needed, and remove from heat
  • Garnish with spring onions or coriander leaves
  • Serve hot as an appetizer or side dish with fried rice or noodles

Notes

Instead of green chillies, you can add green chilli sauce
The vinegar or lemon juice is optional but I usually add some for the tang it gives
You can use capsicum in any colour
You can also follow the same recipe with small pieces of chicken with bone
The batter ingredients are very customisable. You can opt to add pepper in the final stage rather than into the batter, for example

Step by Step Pictures for Making Chilli Chicken

Mix all the ingredients for the batter

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chickenPin

and add enough water to make a thick batter, similar to bajji batter

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-2Pin

Add cleaned and cut chicken pieces

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-3Pin

Stir well to combine

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-4Pin

Heat oil for deep frying and when it’s almost smoking hot, add the chicken pieces one at a time, well coated with the batter

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-6Pin

Fry on medium heat until golden brown. Drain and set aside

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-7Pin

Heat oil and add the onions, ginger, garlic, and green chillies
Saute until the onions turn transparent and soft

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-8Pin

Then add the soya sauce, vinegar or lemon juice, and tomato ketchup and saute for 2 more minutes

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-9Pin

Now add the fried chicken pieces and capsicum.

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-10Pin

Mix well, sprinkle some water, and cook cover for 4-5 minutes on very low heat. Stir in between if you feel the bottom of the pan is beginning to bury but do not add any more water

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-12Pin

Once done, uncover and adjust salt. Then garnish with chopped spring onions or coriander leaves.

dry indian chilli chicken, how to make chilli chicken-11Pin

That’s it! Your dry chilli chicken is now ready to serve. Serve hot as an appetiser or with fried rice or noodles as a side dish with chicken.

If you make chilli chicken following my easy step by step recipe, do drop me a comment below.

For chilli chicken recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Malay etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar

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By nags Filed Under: Chicken Recipes, Indo-Chinese Recipes, Indo-Chinese Side Dishes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anisha zaheen

    April 7, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    I tried this recipe and it came out really good and testy. Thanks for sharing the recipe

    Reply
    • nags

      April 10, 2016 at 2:11 pm

      thank you anisha!

      Reply
  2. twinkle

    March 29, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    2 stars
    recipe is nice…thanks

    Reply
  3. Dr.shailashri

    March 16, 2016 at 12:47 am

    Thanks for the recipe. Prepared it for first time n got good compliments from hubby .will prepare again keep posting some more recipe

    Reply
    • nags

      March 16, 2016 at 8:06 am

      Thank you Dr! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Aarti

    March 6, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    4 stars
    Very well explained…
    I tried dis recipe., it turned out amazing… Thanks fr sharing..

    Reply
    • nags

      March 16, 2016 at 9:00 am

      thanks aarti, glad you like it

      Reply
  5. idayathshariff

    February 22, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    super

    Reply
  6. Marina

    January 20, 2016 at 1:33 pm

    5 stars
    Hi nags, I did try this recepi . just relished it. my son just loved it . I hv bookmarked this recipe. Thanks fr sharing
    Rgds
    Marina

    Reply
    • nags

      January 21, 2016 at 9:20 am

      thank you marina!

      Reply
  7. Meenu

    January 16, 2016 at 2:23 pm

    5 stars
    I made this at home last week and my hubby just loved it! I am going to make this again soon! 🙂 Instead of ketchup i added fresh tomato puree and that added more gravy to it. I did this because I served it with rice 🙂 Thanks Nags!

    Reply
    • nags

      January 16, 2016 at 5:44 pm

      Thank you Meenu! 🙂

      Reply
      • Balaram Patra 7873780997

        November 23, 2016 at 12:34 am

        chilli chicken very testy and drink

        Reply
  8. Anonymous

    March 17, 2013 at 9:11 am

    I tried this today and it was the best chicken dish I have prepared till date. It was so soft and yummy. Thanks to you. 🙂

    But, what I prepared didn't look like the picture. It didn't have any red color at all. I followed exactly as per your recipe. Did I miss anything?

    Reply
    • Nagalakshmi V

      March 18, 2013 at 2:34 am

      i added kashmiri chilli powder to this version. also, i think it's an issue with the lighting since i took this picture under artificial lights.

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      March 18, 2013 at 9:26 am

      Oh ok. Never mind the color. The dish was simply awesome!!
      Thanks so much 🙂 Your recipes are inspiring me to cook more and more!!

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      March 18, 2013 at 9:28 am

      But u haven't mentioned chilli powder in the recipe.

      Reply
    • Nagalakshmi V

      March 19, 2013 at 1:58 am

      sorry about that! will add a note to the recipe.

      Reply
  9. Anonymous

    January 17, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    i am making it for the second time. it is super hit in my family. thanx
    nikhat

    Reply
  10. Jen Das

    January 15, 2013 at 11:58 pm

    Hi there,
    I have had a lot of chilli chicken in the past but had never tried it at home. I used your recipe as a jumping off point but something made me add a little tomato sauce and a little sugar (maybe the Beng in my household?). I don't know why I had that inspiration, but it came out nicely. Thanks for helping me get a handle on a family favorite.

    Reply
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Hello!

I am Nags, the face behind Edible Garden, a food and recipes website for the busy (and sometimes lazy!) cook since 2007. My recipes are meant to be quick yet healthy and delicious - Nothing fancy, nothing too difficult. Follow Me On Instagram for real-time food and life updates.

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