Chilli chicken recipe – Learn how to make chilli chicken gravy & dry restaurant style recipe with step by step photos. Chilli chicken is one of the most popular Indo-Chinese style chicken appetizer or starter that is served in Indo-Chinese restaurants. Vegetarian alternates are made with paneer, mushroom, potato and tofu.
If you are new to Indo-chinese foods, then read on to know ..
What is chilli chicken?
Chilli chicken is a sweet, spicy & slightly sour crispy appetizer made with chicken, bell peppers, garlic, chilli sauce & soya sauce.
This crisp fried saucy chilli chicken recipe is hands down the best that you can make at home. There are so many ways this chicken appetizer is made. The recipe shared on this post is my own which has been much loved by my friends & family.
To make the best Chinese chilli chicken, boneless cubes are marinated in soya sauce, chili sauce and pepper. Then deep fried until crisp. Later they are seasoned again in flavorful sauces.
This chilli chicken has a burst of flavors & tastes delicious. These tender bites taste mildly hot, sweet and sour. It is best served hot as an appetizer or with
Veg fried rice
Schezwan fried rice
Hakka noodles
Schezwan noodles
Is chilli chicken very spicy?
Most people assume it to be too hot & spicy. It is not very spicy. Chilli chicken has a right balance of sweet, spice & sour tastes. My young kids too enjoy this without any problem. You may reduce the spice levels by skipping green chilies.
Tips to make chilli chicken
Usually in the restaurant made chinese chilli chicken, ajjinomotto or monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used to give a unique flavor to it. Trust me! you can still make the best with out it. Avoid it for health reasons, we don’t need it!
Food color is also used to bring the deep red color, avoid that as well and just stick on to the best quality chilli powder or paprika for a vibrant color.
The restaurant served appetizer most often makes us grease sick and tend to dehydrate a lot. For a healthier option you can shallow fry or grill the chicken, details mentioned in the instructions below.
Try this at home! I am sure you will ditch the restaurants & make this best chilli chicken again.
If you wish to brine the chicken first as they do in restaurants to yield tender juicy bites, please check the notes in the recipe card.
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Chinese chilli chicken recipe
Chilli chicken
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- ¼ cup Oil or more for deep frying
for frying chilli chicken
- 250 grams chicken boneless cubes
- 1 ½ teaspoon red chilli sauce (sweet & spicy, less spicy kind)
- 1 ½ teaspoon soya sauce (naturally brewed)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper powder (crushed pepper)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons corn flour or corn starch
- 1½ to 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or maida (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (optional) or paprika or red chilli paste
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt or as needed
- 1 egg white (use only as needed) or 2 tbsps water (refer notes)
Seasoning for chilli chicken
- 1 tablespoon soya sauce (naturally brewed)
- 2 tablespoons red chilli sauce (adjust to taste) (sweet and spicy)
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (optional) or paprika or red chili paste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper powder
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon vinegar (any or apple cider)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water
Other ingredients (veggies)
- 1½ tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced or cubed
- 1 tablespoon garlic chopped
- ¼ to ½ cup bell pepper or capsicum – cubed
- 1 to 2 green chilies slit and deseeded (optional)
- 1 sprig spring onion or scallions chopped (optional)
- 1 to 3 tablespoon Spring onion greens for garnish
How to make the recipe
- Cube the onions & bell pepper. Separate the layers and slit green chilies.
- Prepare the sauce in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp soya sauce, 2 tbsps chili sauce, 2 tbsps tomato ketchup, ½ tsp red chili powder, 1 tsp vinegar and ½ to 1 tsp sugar to a bowl. Pour 2 tbsps of water and mix well. Set this aside.
Preparation for chilli chicken
- (Optional) If you prefer to skip the egg in the recipe, it is good to brine the chicken to keep it juicy, succulent and to prevent from drying up. Follow the instruction in recipe notes below.
- Add chicken to a mixing bowl. Ensure it is drained completely.
- Then add 1½ tsp soya sauce, 1½ tsp chilli sauce, ¼ tsp pepper powder, ¼ tsp red chili powder and 1 pinch of salt.
- Then sprinkle corn flour & plain flour.
- Add the egg white or water just as needed to bind the flour with the chicken. If the mixture is dry add more egg white or sprinkle some water.
- Set this aside until you prepare the ingredients for the sauce. You can refrigerate overnight and use.
How to make chilli chicken
- Heat oil in a pan for deep or shallow fry. It can also be grilled at 240 C for 20 to 25 minutes in a preheated oven.
- Check if the oil is hot enough by gently sliding a small quantity of batter to the hot oil. It must rise without browning.
- Now add the chicken cubes one by one without crowding the pan.
- Fry on a medium high heat until crisp, golden and evenly cooked from inside.
- Keep stirring to fry evenly. Do not over fry as the chicken tends to turn hard.
- When the chicken is cooked completely, bubbles in the oil will begin to reduce. Drain on a kitchen tissue or a colander.
- For extra crisp chicken, once done frying the entire chicken refry them in hot oil.
Seasoning chilli chicken
- Heat 1½ tbsp oil in a wok or pan on a high flame.
- Add garlic & fry for about a min.
- Then add onions, capsicum, spring onions & celery (optional) and green chilies.
- Fry till they turn slightly soft for about a minute or so. The veggies must still be crunchy.
- Pour the sauces. Let the sauces bubble up well & slightly thicken.
- Taste the sauce and add more salt, spice or sauce as needed.
- Also taste the chicken first and add accordingly.
- Then add the fried chicken, Mix well. Saute chilli chicken on a high flame for 1 minute.
- Toss until the chicken is coated well with sauce.
- Serve chilli chicken immediately hot as appetizer or with fried rice or noodles.
Video
NUTRITION
Notes
To make the best out of the chilli chicken recipe I suggest using kashmiri chili powder or paprika and saute well in the sauces on high flame which also lends a smoky flavor. If you do not use enough chili powder, the final dish may not get a good color. So try adding more or less than mentioned in the recipe.
Preparation
1. To a bowl, add 250 grams of cubed boneless chicken, 1 ½ tsp soya sauce, 1 ½ tsp chili sauce and ¼ tsp pepper powder.
2. Sprinkle cornflour, plain flour if using and salt on the chicken. If you like to have a thick crunchy coating of the flour like we get in restaurants, add 1 tbsp more of plain flour and 1 tbsp more of corn flour.
Pour egg white only as needed. You can also use water if you have brined the chicken. Do not use a lot of liquid.
Mix well to coat. If the chicken is too dry, sprinkle little water or more egg white and mix.
3. Add chilli powder or paprika and mix again. This helps to get a good color. This is optional.
4. This is how the chicken looks. If you add too much egg or water or make a batter, it will absorb lot of oil and will not turn crispy.
Frying chicken
5. Heat oil until hot enough. Shallow fry or deep fry the pieces until golden. Drain off on the kitchen tissue. It can also be grilled in a preheated oven at 240 C for 20 to 25 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.You can as well put them on a skewer and grill.
6. Prepare the sauce for seasoning in a bowl. This way you will not end up using more sauces. Add 1 tbsp soya sauce, ¾ to 1 tsp. vinegar, ½ to 1 tsp. sugar, ½ tsp. red chilli powder or paprika, 2 tbsps red chilli sauce & 2 tbsps ketchup to a bowl.
Mix together all of these with 2 to 3 tbsps water. Sauce must be thick yet of pouring consistency. I am using red chilli powder here again for the color.
How to make chilli chicken recipe
7. Heat 1.5 tbsps oil in the pan on a high flame. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add onions, green chilies, spring onions and capsicum. Fry until they turn slightly tender. They must still keep the crunch.
8. Add the sauces and allow to bubble.
9. Add the chicken and toss. Fry on high for 1 minutes till it looks dry.
Serve chilli chicken hot as a appetizer.
Sahana says
This was your first recipe I tried and it was mind blowingly delicious . Hubby and kids enjoyed it.
Inspired by how spot on this recipe was I tried a chicken curry of yours but something didn’t turn out quite right with it.
Will be trying more of your recipes. Thanks for posting xx.
swasthi says
Hi Sahana,
You are welcome. Glad you all liked the chilli chicken. Yes I replied your other comment as well. It should be the strong store bought garam masala. Thanks much for the comment!
jamuna says
Hi can I use egg white after brining? And am I supposed to use chicken breast only or can I use bone pieces too?
swasthi says
Hi Jamuna,
Yes you can use egg white even after brining. Boneless pieces are best.
Rashida says
I tried your recipe and it turned out great tastewise but when I fried the chicken the flour coating came out,why this happened please let me know
swasthi says
Hi Rashida,
I don’t see any reason for the coating to come out except if the oil is not enough or there is not enough oil in the pan. Can you please let me know what have you used for binding – only egg white or full egg & how much? This will help me to guide you.
Rajini says
Will apple cider vinegar make the dish smell bad or will it cook. Pl help. can I use chilli vinegar instead
swasthi says
Hi Rajni,
Yes Apple cider vinegar will go well. I use it. You can’t smell it at all in the dish. Not sure about chilli vinegar. If it is just white vinegar infused with green chilli then you can.
MR says
Excellent. Came out great.
swasthi says
Thank you
Santu says
Hello Swasthi, first of all love ur website😃 Have tried a few of ur recipes. All of them turned out to be fabulous😄 Just one question regarding this recipe..Please elaborate on wen to put in the gravy..just a bit confused..And thank u once again for the woñderful recipes😄😄
swasthi says
Hi Santu,
You are welcome. So glad your food turned out good.
1. For dry chilli chicken – Once you add the sauces, mix it well. If you feel the mixture is too thick, then quickly sprinkle little water (1 to 2 tbsps). Immediately the sauce will begin to bubble, then add the fried chicken to the sauce.
2. For the gravy chilli chicken : just pour the corn starch mixture and cook until it thickens. Taste the sauce and add more chilli and soya sauce to suit your taste then add the chicken. Hope this helps. I will update it more clearly. Thank you.
Farheen says
Hi Swasthi di,
I want to thank you for this blog. I have been able to pull off some seemingly difficult dishes, all by merely following guidelines from Swasthi’s recipes. Thank you!
swasthi says
Hi Farheen,
You are welcome. So glad the recipes have been useful. Thank you so much.
🙂
Di says
Chilli chicken
DanTheEyeMan says
I would love to know what chili sauce you use, or an good sauce to start with in the UK. I make this weekly and I want to perfect it, we have a local restaurant who makes it so, so good. Bit darker and super tasty!
swasthi says
Hi Dan
Any sweet chilli sauce from brands like Heinz or maggie will go well. The darker color comes with the dark soya sauce. You can try it if you like the intense flavor of soya.
Imu says
I tried your ricipe and made some changes to it as u had quoted only for 250/500 Gms and the chilly chicken come out great my son and daughter loved It
Subha says
Dear Swasthi,
Thank you so much. The dish came out well and my family enjoyed it. Just a question pls. What’s the difference between chilli Chicken and Chicken Manchurian please?
DanTheEyeMan says
Usually Manchurian uses mince chicken I believe.
swasthi says
Thanks Dan. Sorry Subha forgot to reply chicken manchurian is made with minced chicken. You can find the recipe here
Samuel says
I just found out your website and it’s very promising and I think I can try out now following your recipies. I would just like to know how much time is required for frying the chickens in a chilli chicken recipe? I tried it out but the pieces became hard as it was overcooked. Could you please help. Thank you for your blog and hope to learn more in future.
swasthi says
Hi Samuel,
You are welcome. When the chicken is cooked, bubbles will reduce in the hot oil. This is one way to figure out. To get soft juicy tender chicken, you should brine the chicken first in curd or buttermilk. Please read the notes for details.
Somyadeep Patasahani says
Simple process. Thanks for ready to chili chicken and super recipe.
swasthi says
welcome
Kamal says
Chilli chicken gravy didn’t taste too good.It had a very peculiar taste .I put 13/4 water with 2 tspoonfull of cornflour.Looks like I messed up the sauce
swasthi says
Hi Kamal,
I have no where mentioned in the post to use 2 tsps corn flour for the gravy. It is a lot and will taste starchy. Please do not alter the recipes as the dishes may not turn out good.
Satya ranjan says
nice blog easy way to make
Neeraj kumar says
nice work bro
Zella Lal says
Hi swasti….i saw this recipe of urs…n m final with this one….its my husbands 31st birthday n for d first time in our 8 year married life he asked me to cook him his favourite chillie chicken all d other time we usually ordered it from d resturant but this time m doomed….hope ur recipe helps me in a big way….
swasthi says
Hi Zella
Thank you. Yes I am sure chilli chicken will turn out very good. My good wishes to both of you.
🙂
mehrun says
Hi! I have made it. Everyone loved it.
It would be nice to print them.
swasthi says
Hi Mehrun
Thank you
Nalani says
Hi there what brand of chilli sauce?
swasthi says
You can use maggie. I mostly use homemade or maggie
Nalani says
This looks really yummy. Planning to make this but what brand of chilli sauce did you use?
Anita Bhatt says
I made chilli chicken with this recipe and it came out very well. I also brined the chicken pieces first for 5-6 hours.
swasthi says
Hey Anita!
Thanks for being here. Glad your chilli chicken turned out good.
Anita Bhatt says
I made this chilli chicken recipe today. It turned out very well. I brined the chicken pieces for 6 hours. The pieces were really soft. Thanks swasthi.