Garlic chicken recipe in 20 minutes – This Indian style garlic chicken has been one of the favorites at home. Hot, spicy, flavorful & absolutely delicious – all without deep frying the chicken. This goes well with plain rice – rasam, Fried rice and Hakka noodles.
However you can also have this with chilli garlic noodles or chilli garlic fried rice and you may also save sometime since the noodles & fried rice I mentioned also use the same spice base.
My new found trick to tenderize the chicken which I learnt from my chicken majestic, works well for this recipe too. I soaked the chicken strips overnight in buttermilk along with salt and pepper.
I was surprised at this soft, tasty and tender chicken, all without deep frying and it is egg free too. I am yet to try baking this. This is not any restaurant style chicken starter but it tastes awesome and is ideal for a home preparation. It is one of our favorites during the monsoon and winters.
To make the spice paste, you can tweak it a bit to suit your taste. For me this turns out perfect.
Note for those who cannot blend and make a paste: mix red chili powder, chopped and crushed garlic, vinegar, sugar, salt and 1 tbsp. water. Use this paste for marinating.
You may like to check these best chicken recipes
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Garlic chicken
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
Marination
- 300 grams chicken strips or boneless cubes
- 4 tbsp Yogurt / dahi / curd (do not use sour yogurt)
- Salt very little
- 1 pinch pepper
Seasoning
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 1 onions chopped finely
Ingredients for Chili garlic sauce
- 5 red chilies or 3/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 5 garlic cloves crushed
- ¾ tbsp Vinegar
- ¼ tsp sugar (optional)
- Salt to taste
- 15 to 30 ml Water (lesser, better) to make a paste
Garnish
- Coriander leaves few
- Onion wedges or rings
- Lemon
Instructions
Prepration
- Mix yogurt, salt and pepper with ½ to ¾ cup water. Beat well and set aside.
- Wash chicken and soak it in the above prepared butter milk for 2 hours to overnight in the refrigerator. Soaking for at least 6 hours is recommended to get soft chicken.
- Blend and Make a paste of the ingredients mentioned for chili garlic sauce.
- Drain up the buttermilk and add the prepared sauce. Mix well and leave it for 5 minutes. If you want to prepare it at a later time, you can put it back in the refrigerator.
Making garlic chicken
- Heat a pan with oil, add cumin and curry leaves, sauté till the cumin begins to splutter.
- Transfer the onions and fry till golden.
- Add the chicken and fry on a high heat for 2 to 3 mins. When you see the chicken turning white, cover it with a lid and lower the heat and cook till the chicken turns tender. This barely takes 5 mins if you are using strips
- Remove the lid and fry till the moisture evaporates and the sauce begins to cling to the chicken. The longer it is roasted, the sauce becomes more aromatic and tastier but the chicken tends to lose its tenderness. So take off from the heat when it is of your liking. Take care not to burn, garlic burns faster.
- Serve garlic chicken hot or warm.
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.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
I loved going through your recipes Swathi. It’s a must try . The little tricks you add inbetween are awesome
Thank you Rashmi
🙂
Hi Swasthi..
I’ve tried many recipes of yours.. most of them turned out to be good..♥️
It would be helpful of u put step by step photos for this garlic chicken recipe too..
Hi Dollie
I don’t have the step by step photos for this recipe. I will try to do it
Quick and yummy…. This is purely a toddler and new mom recipe if you add less chilli (I added 3chillies instead of 5) and my 16 months old son loved it…. And my sister is a mother to 20 days old baby girl and she loved it too…. Thankyou so much dear…. I love your recipes swasthi…
Welcome Tanu
So glad to know both of them loved it.
Thank you!
🙂
Though I cook a lot of variety and tasty dishes I still refer ur page for non vegetarian recipes. I really like ur recipes it’s S really too Gud as u share many andhra recipes thank u
Hi Rama,
You are welcome. Glad you like the recipes. Thank you so much!
Thanks a lot for the wonderful recipe. Turned out very well.
Welcome Jumana
Though i am vegetarian, Looks very tasty. I sd try preparing for my husband, daughter and maid.? thanks for the easy recipie
You are welcome Rama
Hope your family likes it!
Hi swasthi when cumin is required in curry recipes etc , is this cumin seeds or ground cumin? Clarity would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Roxy,
For curry recipes, I usually do not use cumin powder. It is only the seeds.
Just a note – I mention them differently
For cumin – I write cumin or jeera
For cumin powder – I write clearly cumin powder or jeera powder.
Hope this helps. Thanks for reading
Thanks for that Swasthi that helps alot….
Cooking non veg for very first time. With the help of ur recipe it was too tasty. Exact measurements. My frnds loved it.
Thank you! Glad you all liked it.
Hi Swasthi
Thanks for posting the Garlic chicken recipe.
Where have you mentioned when to add the chilli garlic paste. I can’t find it.
Thanks.
Hi Anil,
You are welcome.
Chicken is marinated with the chilli garlic sauce or paste. I have mentioned this in step 4. Hope this helps
Hi Swasthi,
Thanks for the reply.
So as I understand, take the marinated chicken from the fridge and then “Drain up the buttermilk” means from the marinated chicken and then add the sauce to the chicken and again keep for few hours. Right?
Regards
Anil
Yes you are right.
I tried chicken65 and chicken korma. My family loved it every time I make it. They turned out just delicious.Thank you for sharing such easy to make restaurant style recipes.
Welcome Shanta
Thanks for trying. Glad to know the recipes came out good.
I tried this and it worked very well. I put more garlic paste and also added some red capsicum because the amount was too less for my mixer. Subbed honey for sugar. I added the remaining curd as well as I felt guilty for throwing it. Really good recipe, deceptively delicious for something so simple.
Thanks for trying Charu. Addition of capsicum sounds good. Will try it soon
l normally make my chicken curry with borne is there any problem?
Yes you can use bone-in-chicken, no problem. Make sure you cook it completely.
i am a vegetarian but cook non veg for my family so not very much aware about the meat parts s, can u kindly explain me which part of chicken is called “chicken strips?
Hi Sudha
I appreciate you. Chicken strips are boneless chicken meat just sliced to thin strips. They can be from any part, but they are boneless tender meat which gets cooked very very fast. Sometimes I buy these as they are available in small packs say about 200 grams and they are easy to use. Just wash and use, no cleaning. Strips are good for preparing appetizers only
I love ur recipes..I have tried many of them n they r simply wowww!!! Thank u so much for sharing ur recipes.
Hi, loved this recipe. One request ? Could you please send me Lemon Chicken Recipe as well.
Thanks Ved
You can find the recipe of lemon chicken here.
I have tried most of the recipes and love them
Can you please make phirni and post the recipe I have tried it but failed
Thanks for trying Payal
Yes I will share phirni recipe
its awesome. can u ppl mail me the daily recepies of chicken?
Hi Nabanita
Thank you. We don’t post chicken recipes daily. Most of them are not notified by mail You can check the non-veg section every week for new recipes.
good
Thanks sonu
Chicken changaji
I am waiting for your different types of Chetton chicken with salad,
please mention the amount of oil, i must fry these chicken strips..
Hi Mynk
It is mentioned in the recipe card. 2 tbsp
hehe..sry for dumb mistake.. nd is that really written 5 clove with 5 garlic..?
Hi Mynk,
Those are garlic cloves meaning one part/ section of a whole garlic. We need 5 such garlic cloves.
🙂
ty chef.. . :*
Delicious dishes like like most.
Thanks Zahoor
You said to soak it in the buttermilk for 6 hours to over night. Once you drain the buttermilk do you have to wash the chicken before adding the garlic mixture?
No, we don’t need to wash. But drain completely