Snacks & street food · Indo-Chinese

Chicken Manchurian

The Indo-Chinese classic: crisp fried chicken bites tossed in a glossy garlic, ginger, soy and chilli sauce, made dry as a starter or saucy to eat with fried rice.

Chicken Manchurian

Prep 20 min · Cook 20 min · Total 40 min + 15 min marinade · Serves 3

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 400 g Boneless chicken thigh, cut in 2 cm pieces
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 tsp Soy sauce
  • ½ tsp Black pepper powder
  • ½ tsp Red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 4 tbsp Cornflour
  • 2 tbsp Plain flour (maida)
  • Oil for deep-frying, to taste

Sauce

  • 2 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tbsp Garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Ginger, finely chopped
  • 3 Green chillies, chopped
  • 4 Spring onions, whites and greens chopped separately
  • 1 Onion, cut in squares
  • 1 Green capsicum, cut in squares
  • 2 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Red chilli sauce
  • 1 tbsp Tomato ketchup
  • 2 tsp Vinegar
  • ½ tsp Sugar
  • ¼ tsp Black pepper powder
  • Salt, to taste

Slurry

  • 1 tbsp Cornflour
  • ½ cup Water

Method

  1. Marinate. Mix the chicken with the egg, ginger-garlic paste, soy sauce, pepper, chilli powder and salt. Add the cornflour and maida and mix until each piece has a sticky coating. Rest for 15 minutes.
  2. Fry the chicken. Heat the oil for deep-frying to 175C. Fry the chicken in two batches for 4 to 5 minutes until golden and cooked through. For extra crunch, fry them all again for 1 minute in hotter oil. Drain.
  3. Start the sauce. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the garlic, ginger, green chillies and spring onion whites for 30 seconds, then add the onion and capsicum and toss for a minute so they stay crunchy.
  4. Season. Add the soy sauce, chilli sauce, ketchup, vinegar, sugar and pepper and let it bubble for a few seconds. Taste and add salt only if needed.
  5. Thicken. Stir the cornflour into the water and pour it in. For dry Manchurian use the smaller amount and cook until it's a thick glaze; for gravy use the larger amount and simmer until glossy and pourable.
  6. Toss and serve. Add the fried chicken and toss over high heat until coated. Scatter with spring onion greens and serve at once: dry as a starter, gravy with fried rice or hakka noodles.

Tips

Toss the chicken in only just before serving. It softens fast in the sauce, so for a party keep the fried chicken and sauce apart and combine in the last minute.