Chilly Chicken

Ah winters! It’s the perfect season to eat hot spicy foods. Fresh vegetables and fruits are at their best. Everyone usually gains weight in the winters and it's because of all the wonderful stuff we eat. Northern India has long summers with a humid climate and hence the food is usually plain and simple. My mom used to change the entire menu to suit the summer needs. Light curries and cool salads, fish or lentils with rice. Come winters the food in general used to be rich and spicy. Debarshi also likes bold flavors in his food. Although, I have become more attached to hot spicy foods after my marriage. Still once the chill is in the air, I feel a natural craving for spicy food. The cold makes the food taste better as we feel our taste buds dancing with the chilies and spices. 

The first time I had Chilly Chicken was with my sister. She came to visit me in Delhi and we went to a nice restaurant for lunch. In India Chilly Chicken is mostly served as an appetizer, prepared dry and deep-fried. The chicken is marinated in garlic and chilies. It is then coated with eggs and flour and deep-fried. It tastes amazing. After my first experience, I have had Chilly Chicken quite a few times in India but never thought of preparing it at home.

In December 2013 we were celebrating our 6 months marriage anniversary. We wanted to eat something special to celebrate the day but by the time we decided it was already pretty late to go out and eat. We decided to cook something at home and all of a sudden Debarshi said, “Could you prepare Chilly Chicken?” It will be perfect. Smoking hot chicken in this cold weather. So we looked up the recipe online and luckily I had most of the basic ingredients. The ones I didn't have we substituted them with other ingredients. Debarshi is pretty spontaneous when it comes to cooking. The original recipe uses some special oriental sauces, which we substituted with some oriental sauces we had in our pantry like Ketchup, and Chilly Garlic sauce (or Siracha). We had it with flatbreads (roti) and it tasted like heaven. We marked a special day with a special recipe.

Since that day I have prepared this dish numerous times. I have tried the same recipe with different types of meat and it tastes awesome every time. For vegetarians, they can replace chicken with Paneer.

The beauty of this dish is it can be eaten with noodles, fried rice or even with naan. I use ketchup and chilly garlic sauce which when combined with onions and bell pepper makes the chicken really aromatic and soft. 

This dish is also perfect for travels as it can be prepared as a dry dish. We went to Pensacola on vacation and I prepared this as a to go on the way meal. We rolled it up in naans and ate it like a wrap. It’s a happy memory for me. Earlier we used to cook a lot of food when going on trips. Debarshi was pursuing his PHD at that time, so this not only helped us to save some money but also was a healthy way of having a fun time.

Recently we started following the diet plan again. The idea is to stop consuming carbs, extra sugar, butter or oil and work towards a healthy diet. But as I always say, healthy can be tasty. I have included my pointers (with the directions) on how to prepare the same recipe in a healthy way.

Eat as an appetizer, as an entrée - with naan, fried rice or as a wrap. Or eat healthy. This one dish serves multiple purposes.

So...Chop Chop!

Ingredients:

• Chicken (1 pound, cut in small pieces)
• Garlic (3 cloves + 1 clove)
• Green Chili (3 + 3 chopped) or Jalapeño (2 + 1 chopped in rounds)
• Soy Sauce (1 teaspoon + 2 teaspoon)
• White Vinegar (1 teaspoon)
• Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
• Egg (1, beaten lightly)
• All Purpose Flour (1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon)
• Oil (for frying, about 4 cups)
• Onion (1 cup, thickly sliced)
• Red/Yellow/Green Bell Pepper (1, cut in cubes or thickly sliced)
• Ketchup (2 tablespoons)
• Chili Garlic sauce (1 tablespoon)

Prepping Directions:

• Mince 3 cloves of Garlic and 3 Green Chilies.
• Marinate the Chicken with the Garlic and Chili, Soy Sauce (1 teaspoon), White Vinegar and Salt for an hour.

Appetizer Directions:

• After an hour, add the Egg and 1 tablespoon of All Purpose Flour to the Chicken pieces and mix well.
• Heat Oil on a medium high heat in a wok (skillet or fry pan). 
• Add the Chicken pieces in a single layer and fry till they are golden brown. 
• Remove the Chicken pieces and keep aside. The fried chicken should be ready to eat.

Gravy Directions:

• Heat a different skillet on medium heat with 2 tablespoons of Oil in it. 
• Mince the remaining Garlic (1 clove) and Green Chili (3) together and add it to the skillet with the Onions. 
• Fry till the Onion is pinkish brown in color. 
• Add the Bell Peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add the remaining Soy Sauce (2 teaspoons) with the Ketchup and Chili Garlic sauce. (I don’t add any more Salt in it because these sauces have Salt)
• In a cup of warm water mix 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour and make a smooth mix. Add this to the above and mix well. 
• When the gravy starts simmering add the fried chicken pieces & mix well till the gravy is thick.
• Serve with fried rice/ Pulao or Naan.

Make it Healthy:

• Instead of adding an Egg, add 1-2 tablespoons of Egg Whites.
• Use just a small amount (1-2 teaspoon) of All Purpose Flour to coat the Chicken
• Don’t deep-fry the Chicken. Use 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to fry and cook the whole dish. (Cook the Chicken pieces first then add the vegetables and Sauces in it)
• Once you add the sauces add just enough water to mix the sauces with the vegetables and Chicken. 
• Don’t make the gravy.

This photo was taken at the McGuire’s Irish Pub, Pensacola FL. It was our first marriage anniversary. We spent the entire day on the beach. Although I don’t know swimming, I had a really good time there. I was super excited because believe me or not, it was the first time I was at a sea beach. We carried food, water and drinks with us in a cooler, rented two chairs and an umbrella for the day and played cards and clicked lots of photos. It was a memorable first time experience with the ocean for me. In the evening Debarshi and I started to think about going to some nice restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. I found a food network featured restaurant in the city. Being the foodies we are, we watch a lot of food network. We were intrigued and wanted to try this place even though it wasn’t a typical date night – fine dining restaurant...and thank God we did!

It turned out to be a pleasurable, lively and fun restaurant. There was a live band playing some 80’s music and several guests were singing along and having a great-relaxed time. Debarshi ordered a Shepherd’s Pie, which he had wanted to eat for a long time. I found a Food Network featured burger – Big Daddy’s Burger. The food was worth food network’s review. We also ordered a Beans Soup, which was only of 25 cents! Yes, they have been serving this soup at this restaurant for 25 cents for over 80 years. Things like this stick and add on to the memory to be held in your heart forever. We had a great time and made some memories for life. I have yet to prepare Shepherd’s Pie at home and it’s my hope to prepare it sometime and serve it to Debarshi as a surprise.

Recommended Reading:

• Picnic at Smithville Lake, Missouri
• Chow Mein recipe
• Chicken Masala
• Debarshi’s Garlic Chicken
• Alu Shimla Mirch Tamatar Sabji (Potato with Bell Peppers in a Tomato gravy)
• Chicken Kosha (Bengali Style Hot Chicken Gravy)
• Pan Fried Chicken with a Cheesy Mushroom Loaded Gravy
• Spice Up Your Weeknight with Red Hot Baked Chicken