Bong Chilli Chicken

There is nothing even remotely Chinese about the Chilli Chicken that is served in most Chinese restaurants in Calcutta, that we Bongs so love and cannot do without. Yet, it has become an essential part of our cuisine, and we have found a million different ways to cook it. Most restaurants make a pakora out of boneless chicken, and then prepare a sauce with onions, capsicum, garlic and the most essential ingredient, soy sauce. I have my own way, which I think is slightly healthier, since it avoids deep frying completely. It is simple and straightforward and produces reliable results, if the recipe is followed closely.

Although this isn’t an authentic Chinese dish, I do use authentic ingredients, and for the right taste, it is essential that you find these, especially the dark and light soy sauces. Light soy sauce is light only in colour, it has an extremely strong flavor, and is very very salty, so salty infact, that it is used instead of salt. Dark soy sauce is much less salty, and is used mostly for colour. Try and find soy sauces made in an around south east Asia, if not China. Another ingredient is the green chilli sauce, which is crucial. In Calcutta, the best brand is the one made by Pou Chong Brothers.

INGREDIENTS

Boneless chicken – 300-400 gms, cut into medium sized pieces

Light Soy Sauce – 4 tablespoons

Dark Soy Sauce – 2 tablespoons

Vinegar – 1 tablespoon

Green Chilli Sauce – 2 tablespoons

Ginger paste – 1 teaspoon

Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon

Black pepper powder – 2 tablespoons

Onions, diced – 1 cup

Green Capsicum, diced – 1 cup

Green chillies, chopped into large peices – ½ cup

Cornflour – 1 teaspoon, dissolved in ¼ cup of water

White oil for cooking - 4 - 6 tablespoons

Hot water for gravy

NO SALT!!! That's right, NO SALT!!!

METHOD

• Marinate the chicken with the light soy sauce, green chilli sauce, vinegar, ginger and garlic pastes, and 1 tablespoon of black pepper powder for atleast an hour. I usually marinate the chicken overnight.
• After atleast an hour, heat oil in kadhai to smoking, and add the chicken with the marinade, and stir on high flame for a minute. Add the dark soy sauce, reduce flame to low, cover and allow the chicken to cook down, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing stick to the bottom of the kadhai.
• The chicken will release a lot of water, once this water has died down, and the oil seperates at the sides, raise heat and add the capsicum. Stir around for a minute, and then add green chillies and onions. Stir well for half a minute and then add ¾ cup hot water and mix well to make gravy.
• Once the gravy starts to boil, add the corn flour mixture and stir well. The gravy will thicken immediately and a glaze will appear.
• Once this happens, add the remaining black pepper, stir and immediately turn off flame.

Serve with steamed rice.

Serves – 3

Preparation time 1 hour

Cooking time – 45 minutes