Chicken Manchurian
The chicken Manchurian is a typical dish with a blend of sweet and savory flavors. This restaurant-style dish is served as a starter or as a side with egg fried rice, chicken fried rice, plain rice(boiled), or noodles.
Ingredients
- ½ kg chicken boneless
- cooking oil (for deep frying)
Marinade
- 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 egg white
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tsp garlic paste or powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Manchurian Sauce
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- ½ tbsp garlic paste
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp white pepper powder or black pepper powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 cup tomato ketchup
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 3-4 drops red food color (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar
Cornflour Slurry
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 3 tbsp water
Instructions
Chicken Marination
- Prepare marinade by combining the marinade ingredients. Mix well. Then mix cornflour with all-purpose flour in a small bowl and then add it to the marinade. Mix well.
- Next, apply the marinade thoroughly to the chicken pieces. If you feel the marinade is thick you can add little water to it. Set aside for 30 to 45 minutes.
Frying Chicken
- Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan for deep frying. Fry the chicken cubes on medium-high flame. When the oil is hot enough start dropping the chicken pieces one by one. You may fry the chicken cubes in batches.
- Fry them till light brown color. It will take 6 to 7 minutes to fry.
- Once done, remove the fried pieces to a paper towel so that the excessive oil may absorb into it.
Preparing Manchurian Gravy
- Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in the pan. Put in garlic paste and sauté till light brown.
- Add red chili powder and fry it slightly.
- Add vinegar or lemon juice and chicken stock. Stir it.
- When it starts boiling, add tomato ketchup. Stir all these items well to combine. If you like, mix in 3 to 4 drops of red food color to give it a nice reddish color.
- When the sauce starts bubbling, include white pepper powder or black pepper powder. Now add salt along with sugar. Stir all to mix well.
Making the Chicken Manchurian
- Keep the flame on medium-low. Put the fried chicken cubes into the sauce and toss well to coat them with the sauce.
- Make cornflour slurry by mixing cornflour into the water and then add it to the manchurian gravy to thicken it. Add the slurry gradually and keep stirring while pouring. Cornflour takes 1 to 2 minutes to cook. Continue cooking the manchurian gravy to your desired thickness.
- Heat the sizzling plate for 2 to 3 minutes, then lubricate it with butter.
- Now pour in the chicken manchurian on the sizzling plate. Serve it hot and sizzling.
Video
Notes
If you prefer, you can pan-fry or grill the chicken cubes instead of deep-frying.
For rich flavor, prepare the chicken stock at home but for convenience, you can mix store-bought ½ chicken stock cube in a cup of water to prepare one cup of chicken stock.
You can use chicken powder as a substitute for chicken stock. Dissolve 1 & ½ tsp of chicken powder in one cup of water to add it to the manchurian sauce.