Chilli Chicken

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to an exciting edition of cooking with Varun! I was going through my posts the other day and I noticed that while we have seen a lot of Indian dishes and a couple of continental ones, we haven't seen much of other cusines. Now, if you're like me, you probably get tired of eating the same cuisine over and over and jump at the chance to eat something different.

People often ask me what my favourite cuisine is, and that's a pretty tough question to answer seeing as each cuisine has something different to offer and you can't really compare. I mean, think about it, how do you compare idli sambar to bacon and eggs? The way I look at it, I just think of food that I can eat at any time, any number of times without getting sick of it. And few things have the right combination of spice, meat, veggies and gravy than Chinese food. Granted, you get hungry within a half hour of putting away a big plate of Chinese food, but hey, what's stopping you getting a refill or ten?

It's no secret that I'm from India, but I've travelled a fair amount as part of my job and have sampled both local and Chinese food in several countries and I have to say, Chinese food in India is so much better in terms of flavour and spice. I don't mean the 'thela' variety, because let's face it, that is in a separate class altogether, but even the local restaurants (although I'll admit, this is, in part, to my Indian palate).

Today's dish is a chilli chicken that walks the fine line between authentic and Indian Chinese food and delivers a very pleasing combination of flavours. It takes a little effort, but the payoff is worth it. So without further ado, off to the recipe!

For Chilli Chicken you will need the following:

Chicken                                        500 gms (boneless if you can wangle it)

Green peppers (capsicum)             1

Onion                                           1

Green chillies                                10

Garlic                                           4 cloves

Chicken stock cubes                       2

Cornflour                                       1 cup

Egg                                               1

Salt                                               to taste

Soy sauce

Vinegar

Oil

Prep:

1. Wash and cut the chicken into cubes.
2. Grab a bowl.
3. Drop in the chicken.
4. Add in enough cornflour to coat the chicken.
5. Beat the egg and add to the bowl.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Mix well until the chicken is coated with the cornflour and egg.
8. Vertically slice the chillies.
9. Mince the garlic.
10. Cut the green pepper into large cubes.
11. Slice the onion into big pieces.
12. Dissolve the stock cubes in 2 cups of water.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20.
5. Drop in a chicken piece.
6. Wince as the splashing oil hits your skin.
7. Fry the chicken until golden.
8. Scoop out the chicken and place on a plate. (You can put a bit of kitchen roll or a serviette on the plate to absorb any surplus oil.)
9. Repeat for the rest of the chicken pieces. (You can add more than one piece at a time.)
10. Turn the gas off.
11. Put the pan away.
12. Turn on a bigger burner (or the same one if you want).
13. Bung a wok (or a deep pan or kadhai) on.
14. Splash in some oil.
15. Count to 20.
16. Slide in the chillies.
17. Toss in the garlic.
18. Cook until the garlic starts to brown slightly.
19. Pour in the stock.
20. Splash in the soy sauce. (As dark as you want it.)
21. Splash in some vinegar.
22. Mix.
23. Decide you want more sauce/gravy.
24. Add in a cup of water.
25. Splash in some more soy sauce to get the colour right.
26. Add in the peppers and onions.
27. Cook for a couple of minutes.
28. Add in the chicken.
29. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
30. Realize the sauce is too runny.
31. Grab a cup.
32. Add in a tbsp of cornflour.
33. Add in some cold water and mix.
34. Add the mixture a little at a time to the chicken to thicken the sauce.
35. Simmer for a few minutes.
36. Turn the gas off.
37. Serve with fried rice or noodles. (If you don't know how to make them, wait for a bit and I'll post the recipe!)
38. Stuff face.
39. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: If you want this dish starter-esque, then skip the stock. Also, you will notice there's no salt in the recipe. This is because the soy sauce and the vinegar are already salty.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!