Chicken Manchurian

Chicken Manchurian

How do you decide whether or not to try a new recipe? Ohh yes, there are different ways to make your decision. You can decide based on your experience, say you tried something new at a restaurant or at a friend’s place, you liked it, so you want to try it. You heard one of your friends raving about a new recipe she tried and she strongly recommends you to try it. You visit blogs like this, see the pics, read the comments and make the decision. Sometimes  you read about something, but you’ve no idea what it is, you havent heard anybody recommending it, but you’ve a good feeling about it, so you give it a try. Phew, I’m exhausted explaining the decision making process!

Like I’ve said before, it’s the decision making that takes more time than actual cooking. If you look at it, that holds true for everything else in life, right? At least that’s true in my case. If I’m undecided about something, I’d be restless and irritated and I end up doing nothing, wasting my time and your time, if you happen to be there in my vicinity ;)


I was in an undecided state  for quite some time. The decision to come out with a cook book was easy, but just thinking about the whole procedure had me crash landing at the peak of restlessness. At times, I even thought whether my cook book idea was jinxed! I can explain… It happened that whenever I reached a state of clarity about the whole thing and started my work, something or the other happened on the personal front, which required a 90 degree turn of my attention to something else! I almost gave up the idea, but You didnt let me drop it. You kept asking me how the book is progressing, where am I going to launch it, India or US etc; Whenever I got a mail from you about the book, I felt like digging a hole and hiding in it.
But, I wanted to do something to keep my word to you. That’s how this Chicken ebooklet happened! I’ve noticed that you’ve a soft spot for the chicken recipes posted here. Well, I’ve been seeing you for more than 7 years now, so I should have some idea about your likes and dislikes, right? I’ve tried my best to collect some good chicken recipes and share it with you. I do hope that these recipes become a part of your family “foodlore” :)
After all this talk about chicken, it wouldnt be fair if I dont post a chicken recipe, so here you go. If you like Indo Chinese style recipes, this is a good one. This is actually a two in one kinda recipe. You can also have it as a soup, I’ll share the details in the notes section.
One last thing, before going to the recipe. Thanks a ton for your support and generosity, I was truly overwhelmed seeing the response for Chicken ebooklet!
Combine all the ingredients of the batter. Dip the chicken pieces in egg batter. Heat oil for deep frying in a pan and fry the chicken pieces till they turn light golden colour…


In a wok, heat oil. Lightly fry the crushed ginger and garlic. Add green chillies and white of spring onions..
Add chicken stock/water. Add all the other ingredients of the sauce except cornflour. Cook for 2-3 minutes…

Add cornflour paste to the sauce and give one boil…

Add fried chicken pieces and cook for 2-3 mins, till sauce turns slightly thick. Serve hot garnished with spring onion greens…
 
Recipe adapted from Nita Mehta’s Non Vegetarian Recipes

Chicken Manchurian

Author: Maria Jose Martin

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indo Chinese

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

• Chicken – 350 gms cut into medium size cubes,measured after cleaning (I used boneless chicken)

For egg batter

• Egg whites – 2
• Cornflour – 2 tbsp
• Plain flour (maida) – 2 tbsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Pepper powder – 1 tsp
• Vinegar – 1 tsp
• Soya sauce – 1.5 tsp
• Red chilli sauce – 1.5 tsp

For the sauce

• Crushed ginger and garlic – 2 tbsp each
• Green chilli – 1-2, chopped
• Chicken stock/water – 2.5 cups
• Water – 1.5 cups
• Soya sauce – 2-2.5 tbsp
• Tomato ketchup – 2 tbsp
• Red chilli sauce – 1.5 tbsp
• Vinegar – 1 tsp
• Pepper powder – 1 tsp
• Sugar – ½ tsp
• Salt – ¼ – ½ tsp
• Cornflour – 1.5 tbsp
• Spring onion – 2-3 stalks, chopped (white and greens separate)
• Oil – I used sunflower oil

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients of the batter. Dip the chicken pieces in egg batter. Heat oil for deep frying in a pan (refer notes). Once the oil is hot, reduce heat. Add chicken pieces to the oil and increase the heat to low-medium. Fry the chicken pieces till they turn light golden colour. Make sure you dont fry it too long, otherwise the chicken will harden. Keep it aside.
2. In a wok, heat oil. Lightly fry the crushed ginger and garlic. Add green chillies and white of spring onions. Stir for a few seconds. Add chicken stock/water. Add all the other ingredients of the sauce except cornflour. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add 3 tbsp water to cornflour and make a thick paste. Add cornflour paste to the sauce and give one boil. Add fried chicken pieces and cook for 2-3 mins, till sauce turns slightly thick. Serve hot garnished with spring onion greens.

Notes

If you want to make it as a soup instead of a curry, cut the chicken pieces into thin strips, instead of cubes. Also you can add more water/chicken stock to adjust the consistency.Be careful while adding salt, since soya sauce is used in the batter and sauce. I shallow fried the chicken pieces instead of deep frying.