Now make Chinese Chilli Chicken easily at home with this recipe that’ll give you the real deal restaurant style taste! A super simple recipe with juicy chicken, a sweet and spicy sauce and lots of onions and capsicum to snack on.
I’m damn serious about chinese chilli chicken. I’ve only been having chilli chicken for the last 30 years of my life (yes, I’m that old!) and it’s only like my favorite starter to order when we go out.
I’ve always had the best chilli chicken at shady bars and dhabas. I don’t know what it is but a chilled glass of beer and chilli chicken make the best combination.
And like so many of my restaurant favorites, I had to recreate this at home so that it reminds me of that taste.
Chinese Chilli Chicken at home in 3 easy steps
Fried chicken: Start by frying bite sized pieces of chicken in a batter made with all purpose flour, corn flour and some seasoning. This batter should be thick so that it coats the chicken well. I like using boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they have more flavor and remain juicy once they are deep fried. But I have also successfully used chicken breast. Chicken breasts make for thicker pieces. The chicken is fried on high heat (approx 300-350F), for approx 7-8 minutes till the outer coating is a deep golden brown on both sides.
Sauce and Mise en place: While the chicken is frying, keep the sauce and mise en place ready. This basically means that you should prepare and cut the ginger, garlic, onions, capsicum etc that you need so that during the final step of stir frying, there is no delay. This ensures that the ingredients stay crisp and don’t get soggy while stir frying.
Stir Frying Chilli Chicken: Once the chicken is fried and all the ingredients are ready, the final step is to stir fry the chilli chicken. I recommend using a wok or kadhai because it has a wide surface area and allows quick movement while stir frying. The veggies are cooked on high heat for a minute or two and the chicken is stir fried with the sauce for only a few minutes till it’s coated well.
Dry vs with Gravy
This recipe is really forgiving. The steps listed below are for dry chilli chicken, but you can easily make this with more gravy. All you’ll need to do is double the ingredients for the sauce, use 1 cup water and cornflour. Then just proceed with the recipe as is.
This recipe is an absolute must if you love Indo-Chinese (yes that’s a thing) as much as I do! If you are making gravy, serve it with some fried rice or Hakka noodles and you have a meal!
Check out More Indo-Chinese recipes:
- Crunchy Chinese Chicken Salad
- Chinese Cashew Chicken Noodles Stir-Fry
- Chinese Potli Samosa Wontons
- One Pan Veg Noodle and Manchurian Stir Fry
- Crispy Tofu Broccoli Stir Fry
- Lazy Girl’s Schezwan Chicken Bowl
- Chinese Hot and Sour Soup with Ramen
- Drums of Heaven – Spicy and Saucy!
We love fried rice!
For the Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken, I have a step by step recipe video as well that you can watch below:
Watch Chinese Chilli Chicken Recipe Video
Easy Chinese Chilli Chicken Dry
Ingredients
For the Batter:
- 500 grams Chicken thighs / chicken breasts boneless cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons All purpose flour maida
- 3 tablespoons Cornflour cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon Ginger garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chilli sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper powder
- 1 Egg
- Oil for Frying
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon Soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chilli sauce
- 2 tablespoons Tomato ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon Chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon Distilled Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Water
For the Stir Fry:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Vegetable oil neutral flavored
- 3-4 Green chillies slit lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon Garlic finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger finely chopped
- 3 Onions cut into 1 inch squares
- 1 Large green capsicum cut into 1 inch squares
- 2-3 Spring onions finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients listed under marinade (flour, cornflour, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, chilli sauce, chilli powder, pepper powder and egg) and add chicken. Set aside for 15 minutes to an hour.
- Heat oil for deep frying in a deep pan or kadhai to the depth of 3/4 inches. Once the oil is hot enough (approx 350 F), start adding the chicken pieces and deep fry for 5-8 minutes, turning once or twice till golden brown on both sides. Take the chicken pieces out on a tray lined with tissue to absorb any extra oil and set aside.
- In the meanwhile, whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce (soy sauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, chilli powder and vinegar) with 1/4 cup water and set aside.
- In another wok or kadhai, heat one and a half tablespoons oil and add green chillies, ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute or so and add the cubed onions. Stir fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes and add the capsicum and fried chicken. Toss together and cook for 2 minutes. This helps the chicken take on the smoky flavor from the capsicum.
- Add the sauce to the chicken on high heat and toss well till the sauce coats the chicken. Stir fry for a minute or two and switch off the flame. Top with spring onions and serve immediately!
I’ve made this a few times and my husband really likes it . Super easy recipe! Thanks for sharing
Most welcome, Priti! Chilli chicken is such a crowd-pleaser 🙂 Thanks for writing to us!
Hello,
I’ve tried this recipe and it came out to be very delicious. Thank u so much for sharing it.
i hv tried various ways of doing this recipe. but this ones the best and my kids love it
So happy you and your kids liked the recipe Sandra. Thanks for leaving a comment!
The Chili Chicken is decent looking. I have attempted it at my home. It was actually quite delectable and my family loved it without question.
Good job! Chilli chicken is so simple, and definitely a crowd favourite. 🙂
I tried this one & it turns out delicious. Everone loved it. Thanks for the recipe..It was Awesome. Highly recommended…must try it once..My first ever try…and it was perfect…
That’s awesome, Jagriti! We’re glad you liked our chilli chicken recipe. Thanks!