Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken Recipe | How to make indian chinese chilli chicken at home

I was looking through my Chicken dishes on the blog and realized I have made a variety of chicken dishes like

The all time favorite Tandoori Chicken
Thai Basil Chicken or Pad Kra Pao Gai
Chicken and Potato Herb Roast (a delicious one-pot roast meal)

However, this recipe takes me straight back home to the comforts of the Indian winter air.

December has stealthily made its way into this year. With the cold weather, a heart-warming combination of Chilli Chicken and Fried Rice is the mother of all comfort food for me. My aunt (Mami) makes one of the best Calcutta-style Chili Chicken. I made sure to be by her side while she was making this, photograph it, and of course, note down the recipe of the perfect homestyle indian chinese chili chicken straight from Kolkata.

Ingredients you will need:

1 lb (500 gms) boneless Chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

For the chicken:
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 ½ tbsp all purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup oil
Salt to taste

For the sauce:
3 tbsp oil
½ tbsp sugar
1 ½ medium red onions, cut into thick pieces (see picture)
1 green bell pepper or capsicum, sliced
½ tomato, cubed
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp soya sauce
½ cup water
½ tsp ground black pepper
10 small green chillies or green peppers, slit into halves
Salt to taste

Method for cooking:

Marinate the chicken pieces with some salt, garlic paste, soya sauce, vinegar, and ground black pepper for 2 hours.
Just before frying, add all purpose flour and beaten egg. Mix into the chicken well.
Heat oil in a pan. Fry the chicken pieces, a few at a time till golden brown. Don’t cook the chicken completely. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok. Add onions, salt, and sugar. Fry till onion is slightly brown.
Add green bell peppers and tomatoes. Stir and cook for sometime in high heat.
Add soya sauce and water. Stir well and let this come to a boil. Do not cover.
Add chicken pieces and gently stir to cover every pieces with the thick sauce.
At the very end, add the slit green chillies or peppers and some black pepper powder.
Give it a final stir and serve hot with steamed rice or fried rice.

This blog post is an ode to my aunt who has whipped up delicious dishes for us all through childhood. Thank you, Mami!

Fried Chicken (lower right side), Sauce simmering (lower left), Chicken mixed with the Sauce (top picture)

Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken with Fried Rice ~ my most favorite comfort food combination

And yes, if you are wondering what’s Indo-Chinese cuisine, well let me tell you that Chinese food including poultry, noodles, rice, fish, seafood dishes have all been modified to suit the Indian spice-loving palate. Which is why Indian Chinese food involves fresh green chillies (peppers) to spice up the food, and not just red dried chilli. And once you have Indo-Chinese food, you’ll keep wanting more.

For now, if you want to see more of delicious food from Calcutta (I still call Kolkata, Calcutta), I photographed all the homemade goodness here.

Until next time, happy weekend.