Chicken manchurian

Chicken Manchurian is a Chinese dish, but I have made it in an Indo-Chinese way. In this recipe I have used boneless chicken pieces. This dish is different from other Manchurian dishes as I have used chilli garlic sauce. The chicken pieces are not dipped in a batter and fried but instead marinated and deep fried in oil. I have tried so many Manchurian dishes but this is my favourite among all. This is spicy too. You can vary the ingredients according to your taste. Vegetarians can use paneer or cauliflower instead of chicken.

Chicken Manchurian goes well with any fried rice or stir fried noodles.

Usually Chinese food is cooked in a wok and cooked on a high flame, but my cooking is done in the wider pan or kadai and cooked on medium and low flame according to my comfort. My main aim is to give you tasty food with what we have.

Ingredients

  1. Chicken (boneless) - 250 gms
  2. For marinade

  3. Chilli garlic sauce (I used Maggi sauce) – 1 tbsp
  4. Maida (plain flour) - 3 tbsp
  5. Dark soya sauce - 1 tsp
  6. Salt - if required
  7. White pepper powder - a pinch or 1/4 tsp
  8. Ajinomoto (MSG) – 1/4 tsp
  9. For sauce

  10. Oil - 1 tbsp (vegetable oil, sun flower oil or groundnut oil)
  11. Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves
  12. Ginger - 1 1/2 tsp
  13. Green chillies - 2
  14. White pepper powder - 1/4 tsp or 1/2 tsp
  15. Spring onion (chopped) - 2 1/2 cup)
  16. Sugar - 1 tsp
  17. Salt - a pinch
  18. Green chillies (chopped diagonally) - 2
  19. Ajinomoto - 1/4 tsp
  20. Chilli garlic sauce - 3 tbsp to 4 tbsp
  21. Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
  22. Water – 3/4 cup
  23. Chicken stock (knor) - 1/2 cube
  24. Corn starch – corn flour 2 tsp + water 1/2 cup
  25. Dark soya sauce – 3 tsp
  26. Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp or a big pinch

Method

    Marinating and frying chicken

  1. Marinate the chicken for 1/2 hr or so ,no need to add water.
  2. Cut chicken into small pieces (chunks). Chicken should be well coated with flour and other ingredients as seen in the picture.
  3. take a bowl, add all sauces in it, soya sauce ,tomato ketchup, chilli garlic sauce, pepper, ajinomoto, mix well and keep it aside or in the fridge for 30min.
  4. the mixture should be dry not like a batter.
  5. If more flour required can add according to your mixture.
  6. after sometime take it out and deep fry the chicken pieces in small portions and keep it aside.
  7. The pieces are small so it wont take much time, when fried it will be in dark colour because of chilli garlic sauce and soya sauce.
  8. Gravy

  9. chop all the vegetables and keep it aside. I have used chopped green chillies and diagonally cut chillies also. Both green and white part of spring onion is used.
  10. first put oil in a wider pan or kadai, when it gets warm add ginger, garlic stir for a second, then add chopped green chillies, spring onions, chicken cube and stir well for 30sec to 1min,keep stirring on a medium flame, till the spring onion are lightly cooked but not burnt.
  11. Now add all the sauces, with diagonal cut green chillies and sugar, white pepper powder, stir quickly for a minute and then add water1/2cup immediately init, and cook it.
  12. when the sauce boils and thickens after 3to4 min, add black pepper powder, ajinomoto or msg, salt if required, remaining green chillies cut diagonal shape, stir well.
  13. Now add 1/3rd cup more water for the gravy and mix well, keep stirring, so that it should not stick to the pan, let it cook for a while, till you get the sauce consistency, it will take 4to5 min.
  14. when the sauce is reduced or cooked, add corn starch(corn flour + 1/2cup water) and mix well, cook for few minutes, so that rawness of corn flour goes away.
  15. In between of cooking I used to reduce the flame to simmer as when it was required, so that to avoid burning.
  16. when you add corn flour starch, the gravy should be little thin or watery as, when you add corn flour starch, it makes thicker and glossy texture comes.
  17. when you get a good consistency of gravy after 2 to3 mins, add fried chicken pieces in it , mix well, cook for 2 mins or till the chicken is binded and coated well with the sauce and switch it off.
  18. Drizzle some chopped green part of spring onions and serve it with any fried rice.
  19. I have served it with chicken and egg vegetable fried rice.

Notes

  1. If you do not want spicy, can reduce chillies and pepper powder.
  2. Like more spicy can increase green chillies if you like.
  3. While adding corn flour starch in gravy, you need to be care full, as the liquid should be thin, otherwise, the gravy will become very thick and dry.
  4. I have added chicken stock cube, that’s why I added water, if adding chicken stock, do not add water.
  5. While cooking, keep stirring as the ingredients are added one by one and gets cooked fast also.
  6. If you think that while cooking , the ingredients are burning just keep it off the heat and when the heat is reduced, start cooking again, or just reduce the flame.
  7. Spring onions I have used both white and green. you can add chopped capsicum also in the end.
  8. If you think that the sauce has thickened after adding cornflour starch then add little water as per the requirement.
  9. Can avoid ajonomoto and change the ingredients according to your taste.
  10. It is just adding one by one ingredient stirring and cooking it till it is cooked and its raw smell has gone, no need to see the seconds or minutes.
  11. If you do not want to marinate it with plain four but wanted like batter type then make your own batter like plain flour(maida), cornflour, egg mix it and dip the chicken pieces and fry it or if vegetarian can use curd and rice flour also, make like a batter and fry it in deep oil, before that just marinate with above sauces.