We don’t indulge in a lot of deep-fried food, but there are times when the craving kicks in. Earlier we used to have take-outs. While ordering from out is very convenient, the amount of food colour and MSG used always makes me worried. Now that we have a toddler at home, I need to be careful about what she eats. Making Restaurant style Chilli Chicken Dry or Chilli Chicken Gravy at home is not that difficult you know. I agree its a bit lengthy process, but at least there is no fear of artificial colour or MSG.
Tips for crispy and tender fried Chicken
The first thing for making restaurant-style Chilli Chicken dry is to make the chicken crispy outside and juicy from inside. The batter to fry chicken is a mixture of cornflour and all-purpose flour. Cornflour helps to make crispy. Then there is egg white. Adding egg white to the batter is optional but it helps to make the coating rich and extra crispy. It is important to keep the batter of the right consistency. To avoid thin runny batter, drain chicken pieces very well before adding the marination. If still the batter is runny add a little more flour to help with the binding. If the batter is too thick add a little water to it. Once you got the batter right, next is frying the chicken. Ideally, the chicken is deep-fried. When the oil is medium hot start adding the chicken to the oil. Avoid overcrowding the pan. Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes before turning them. Frying chicken in very hot oil will burn the outside and the inside remains uncooked.
Can I use Chicken Breast?
I have used chicken thigh fillets here. Chicken thigh is juicer than a chicken breast, so it is always my first preference. If you can’t get hold of the Chicken thigh, you can certainly use boneless chicken breast. If you are using chicken breast, here is a small trick. Toss chicken breast in a teaspoon of cooking soda. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then wash it under running water. The rest of the process is the same as for the thigh. Adding Cooking soda help to make the chicken breast tender and gives a velvety smooth texture to it.
How to make Chilli Chicken Gravy?
It is easy to make restaurant chilli chicken gravy. The steps are the same as making chilli chicken dry. Increase the cornflour slurry(Cornflour water mixture) to double the quantity mentioned in the recipe. You might need to adjust the seasoning by adding a little more salt to it. You can always adjust the seasoning by adding more sauce to it. I like the sauce bit sweet and spicy. So I add tomato ketchup to the sauce. To get the deep red colour of the gravy I prefer to use Kashmiri red chilli powder. It is not spicy but gives a nice deep red colour to the dish. Few more similar recipes you might like CHICKEN 65
