Chicken Pepper Chilly Fry

Indo Chinese cooking has been greatly improvised by adapting some of the popular Chinese dishes to Indian taste. Chilly Chicken and Chicken Manchurian are the two most popular Chinese Chicken dishes that the local restaurants started making in their own ways using a few local ingredients.

I first ate this dish Chicken Pepper Chilly Fry at Nandini Fish Bowl on KSR Road Mangalore in the Nineties. Spicy tangy and juicy dish that tickles the palate and leaves a peppery taste on the tongue and clears the throat and sinus congestion as the dynamite travels down the gullet!

Here's the method we used to make this fiery hot and tangy dish.

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken pieces - 8(Around 250Gms)
Green Chillies - 4 slit lengthwise
Onion - 1 chopped
Garlic - 4 cloves chopped
Ginger - 1" piece chopped
Curry leaves - A handful
Kasoori Methi - A pinch(Optional)
Salt and Pepper
Dark Soy Sauce - 1 Tsp
Diluted White Vinegar - 2 Tbsp
Corn Starch - 2 Tbsp
Oil - For deep frying + 1 Tsp

Method:
Marinate the chicken pieces with 1 Tbsp vinegar, salt and pepper for 2-3 hours.
Squeeze out the marinade(reserve the marinade for later use), dip the marinated chicken pieces in corn starch and deep fry in hot oil till golden.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok.
Fry curry leaves, add chopped ginger, garlic onions and slit green chillies.
Stir fry on high flame.
When the onions turn transparent, add salt and pepper to taste, the reserved marinade, the fried chicken pieces, kasoori methi, soy sauce and vinegar.
Keep tossing and stir frying till the sauce coats the chicken pieces.

Transfer to serving dish and serve hot as a starter snack or with fried rice or noodles of your choice.
This also goes well with rice and curry.

Note: 1. We use heavy volumes of black pepper powder and vinegar in this dish to get the spicy tangy taste. You may reduce or increase the volumes according to your taste.
2. You can also prepare this with prawns, paneer, cauliflower or mushrooms. In the case of veggies, no need to marinate the pieces.