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.
You may like these 70 chicken recipes
Chicken manchurian
Chicken lollipop
KFC style fried chicken
Chicken 65
How to Make Chilli Chicken (Stepwise Photos)
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.
Fry 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.
Season Chilli Chicken
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.
Pro Tips
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.
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.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Chilli Chicken Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- ¼ cup Oil or more for deep frying
To Fry the Chicken
- 250 grams chicken boneless cubes (½ lb)
- 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 cornstarch (white corn flour)
- 1½ to 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (maida) (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (optional) or paprika or red chilli paste
- ⅛ 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 fine chopped
- ¼ to ½ cup bell pepper (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
Instructions
Preparation
- (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.
- Slice chicken to bite sized pieces about half inch cubes. Add chicken to a mixing bowl. Ensure it is drained completely.
- Add soya sauce, red chilli sauce, black pepper powder, red chili powder (optional) and salt. (Quantities as mentioned under the section "To Fry the Chicken").
- 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 & the sauce. You can also refrigerate overnight and use.
- Cube the onions & bell pepper. Separate the layers and slit green chilies.
- Prepare the sauce in a bowl. Add soya sauce, chili sauce, tomato ketchup, red chili powder, vinegar, sugar and water to a bowl. (Quantities as mentioned under the section "seasoning for chili chicken"). Mix well. Set this aside.
Fry 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 oil in a wok or pan on a high flame. Add garlic & fry for about a min.
- Add onions, capsicum, spring onion whites 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 chicken as well. Add more salt, spice or sauce as needed.
- Add the fried chicken, Mix well. Sauté chili chicken on a high flame for 1 minute.
- Toss until the chicken is coated well with sauce. Garnish with spring onion greens.
- Serve chilli chicken immediately hot as appetizer or with fried rice or noodles.
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
I want to try to make this dish this weekend. Do you use Maggi Mild Sweet Chili Sauce or Maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Chili Sauce?
Hi,
I use sweet and hot chili sauce
Really like your recipes. They are simple to follow, quick to make and very tasty! Thank you! Have tried many of your recipes and made this chilli chicken today and it came out great!
Thank you so much! So glad to know!
Hello, what brand chili sauce do you use? I’m unsure what chili is so want to make sure I’m getting the right thing. Thanks!
Hello Neeta,
Try sweet and hot Asian red chili sauce, any brand. I use Maggi red chili sauce
I love all your recipes and regularly use them . A question can we fry the chicken in the Air fryer ? Or would it dry out. Thank you
Hi. I would love to do this but needs further instructions. I would like to do this as a meal instead of an appetizer but when I change the number of servings only the ingredients change — the instructions do not. Can you send me instructions based on about 4 lbs of chicken? Thank you!
You can increase and decrease the amount of people you want to cook for have a look at the recipe card
Easy to cook yummy recipe
Thank you
Made this, it was great! I love spicy foods so I didn’t deseed the green chiles. Perfect amount of heat.
Perfection and I actually made this. Thank you for this.
Glad to know Chrys.
thank you
I tried this recipe tonight. It was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Glad to know Barbara
Love this recipe! Turned out delicious!
Thank you Sal
Tasty recipe. No leftovers left.
Thank you!
Very authentic recipe ! I will try it out today !
Thank you!
Hi Swasthi, I’m dying to make this but am confused about the red chili sauce. The only thing available at my store is a “Thai Sweet Chili Sauce”- would that be too sweet for this dish?
I have dried red chilies at home, can I use those to make my own red chili sauce and if so, how?
Hi Poonam,
Yes you can use that Thai sweet chilli sauce and use more red chilli powder and green chilies for the heat. Also skip sugar in the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Made paneer tikka and got all the love from my family 🥰thank you so much
Glad to know Poonam
Thank you
I made this several times, never have leftovers!!!
Nicely explain..
Loved it! Thank you so much. I took a few liberties on salt, spice and other proportions and it turned out great. I wanted atleast a little bit of gravy because I wanted to have them with tortillas. That was the only lack there. But the taste!❤️😍 homemade chilli chicken is way better than restaurant ones.. you can’t even compare them
Hello Jesse
Happy to know it turned out great. Thank you so much!
This turned out so good!! My family couldn’t stop praising the flavors and the looks of the chilli chicken. I made it with the noodles recommended in this recipe and the entire meal was perfect. Thank you for this amazing recipe and for making it so accessible and easy to understand for beginners!
Hi Khadija
Glad to know you all loved it. Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
This comes out great every time Swasthi, thanks!
Now that I’m finding good hakka noodles in the US it’s even better. Do you have a recipe on here for Chicken 65?
Happy new year!
Glad to know Jack
Happy new year!
Yes you can check the recipe here – chicken 65
Can i use arrowroot instead of corn flour?
Isf i can then plz tell me the proportion..
Hi Payel,
Use the same quantity of arrowroot for frying the chicken. I have also given the gravy version in the notes at the end of the post. I have not tried that with arrowroot. So not sure
This was tasty as hell, loved it. Thanks to you ?
Glad You liked it.