Today’s recipe is Chicken Manchurian!! This was actually one of the first recipes I learned to make as a kid, so in the name of nostalgia it’s very near and dear to my heart. I’ve tweaked it over the years and come up with something that I quite enjoy. You’re probably wondering what is Chicken Manchurian? Well, it’s a popular fusion of Indian/Pakistani food with Chinese food. This fried chicken dish is coated in a spicy, tangy, and sweet Manchurian sauce. I know what you’re thinking – that’s a lot of things for a sauce to be. And you’re right, but you’ll have to trust me on it or you can try for yourself and confirm! Good segue into the recipe? I like to think so 😂 So, let’s get started with the recipe, shall we?
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Ingredients:
For Fried Chicken:
- 2 lbs boneless chicken
- 2/3 cups corn starch
- 2 tablespooons Crushed Red Pepper
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
For Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1/4 cup white or balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup tomato paste + 2/3 cups water
- 2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons Honey
- 1/2 cup water
Directions:
Okay so let’s get this show on the road! First off, what you’re going to want to do is cut up that boneless chicken into bite sized chunks. Now, I used chicken breast because it’s what I had but you can easily use boneless chicken thigh. But, it’s all up to you. So, go…Live your dream. After cutting up the chicken just throw in all the rest of the chicken ingredients which is the corn starch, crushed red pepper, eggs, minced garlic and the salt.
(*Note to self and you: Use a large bowl unless you enjoy being unable to sufficiently mix your chicken and wearing cornstarch as an accessory) Once that’s all mixed up, just pop the chicken into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to marinate. While you wait for that, I would suggest making the sauce. It’s fairly simple. First, put the oil into a saucepan heat on medium and sauté up the minced garlic and ginger until it’s a light golden brown. Once that happens you can literally put the rest of the sauce ingredients, except the water. Let all the sauce ingredients simmer and combine on medium-low heat for a couple minutes so. The sauce is just about done. At this point add in the water a little bit at a time until the consistency is to your liking. If you prefer it more runny add it all in if you want it thicker you can omit it. Taste the sauce and adjust as necessary. If you want it more spicy you can add some more chili flakes. More sweet? You can add a bit more honey. A little more sour? You can add a bit of vinegar. Just be sure to try it as you make adjustments!
At this point you can take the sauce off the stove until it’s needed. And now, let’s set our sights back on the chicken. Once it’s marinated it’s time to fry! I know frying can be intimidating for some people but honestly once you get it on the optimal heat and keep an eye on the chicken, you’ll realize there’s nothing to it. (Well I mean there are some things to it, but nothing very complicated). First off, fill a deep pan with enough oil to halfway submerge the chicken. The amount of oil used will depend on your pan. Put the heat on medium-high and after a couple minutes, drop in a small piece of chicken or a bit of batter and see if it starts to rise and bubble up. It should be ready! (However, if it starts tp browns up almost immediately then you should lower the heat and let it cool). At this point fill the pan with enough pieces of chicken to cover the bottom. Lower the heat to medium and after a couple minutes check to see if the chicken has become lightly-golden brown. When it has, flip it over and continue to cook for a couple more minutes.
Once the chicken has cooked on both sides you can continue to swirl it around in the oil to brown it thoroughly on all sides. Put it on a rack to drain excess oil or you can just put it on a plate with a paper towel, it’s been working for me all these years. Once the chicken is all done frying you can, optionally, do a second fry in an air fryer. It gives it a nice extra crisp – but it really isn’t necessary if you don’t have an air fryer just the one fry totally works. For the air fryer part, simply add in your chicken (this will probably take 2-3 batches, so you can do it as you finish frying each batch) and fry on 350F for 5-7 minutes.
If I’m being perfectly honest I could totally munch on these crispy nuggets of fried chicken, as is, but that’s not the recipe, is it?! Let’s elevate those crispy nuggets with some spicy, sour, and sweet Manchurian sauce. Heat up your sauce when you are ready to use. You can dip the chicken into the sauce and eat it as an appetizer. You can fully coat the chicken in the sauce and serve on a bed of rice. Or you can just drizzle the chicken with the sauce and serve with rice. However you decide to serve, be sure to enjoy!
Chicken Manchurian
Equipment
- Air Fryer (optional)
Ingredients
For Fried Chicken:
- 2 pounds boneless chicken
- ⅔ cups corn starch
- 2 tablespoons crushed red chili flakes
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
For Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- ¼ cup white or balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup tomato paste + 2/3 cups water
- 2 teaspoons crushed red chili flakes
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Cut chicken into small, bite size chunks and in a large bowl mix in the chicken, corn starch, crushed red chili, eggs, salt, and minced garlic. Thoroughly mix until chicken is coated in batter
- Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
- For the sauce, in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, sauté the minced garlic and ginger in oil until lightly golden and translucent. Then mix in ketchup, vinegar, tomato paste + water, crushed red chili, sugar, and honey.
- After mixing thoroughly let the sauce simmer on medium heat until it is fully combined. Set sauce aside until chicken is fried.
- Fry chicken for 3-4 minutes on both sides in a deep pan with heat on medium to medium-high. Fry until chicken is golden brown on all sides.
- Drain chicken on cooling rack to remove excess frying oil
- (Optional) You can give your fried chicken a second fry (in batches) in an air fryer to make it extra crisp. Fry on 350°F for 5-7 minutes until extra crispy and slightly darker in color.
- To serve, reheat the sauce. You can dip fried chicken in sauce, coat the chicken completely in sauce, or just drizzle chicken with sauce. Chicken and sauce goes great on a bed of fresh rice. Garnish with some chopped cilantro and roasted sesame seeds!
- Enjoy!
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