Dragon Chicken (Indo-Chinese Recipe)

Its September again, this is the first time that I am happy to welcome this month since the time I started realizing that I am getting old, as this is the month that completes one another year of my life on earth.But I want time to fly with this same pace till another 3 months as am waiting for a surprise the Almighty is molding inside me :)
Another reason for my happiness this month is the happening of State fair and Cultural Fair's, marking the end of Season....
Like last year this time also did I participate for a Honey Recipe Contest, baked some Baklava Rolls for the same and went to the fair ground with no much confidence as Baklava is not really an accepted dessert by the American taste buds :)
But this was One name which came into my mind when thinking of a dish with Honey, honey glazed chicken was the next option, though I decided to go ahead with Baklava & ended up tasting 5 other variety Baklava's the other contestants presented, the fun part was that none of the Baklava entries won any prize :D
Anyways glad that my NA didn't cry after hearing the result, I expected the same to happen, as I saw her super happy, jumping with excitement not minding her surroundings when my Cream cheese filled Chcocolate Cupscakes in Chocolate Cups won 2nd prize for a Cup cake contest in the same venue last year.

I console myself thinking that participation is the best part and winning is just the next level ;)

May be its the wish of the lil-one getting baked inside my tummy, that I crave extraordinarily for some specific dishes which I sometimes dream in my deep sleep, and this day its "Dragon chicken"
I have had it couple of times from some restaurants in Mumbai, the reason why its called "Dragon" might be because of the bright red tint the dish would have and that long strips of chicken pieces.

Do give it a try if you like Indo chinese dishes, a mixture of Indian ingredients to a typical Chinese recipe.

Here's how I made it

Ingredients 

For shallow frying 

Chicken Breast - 2 medium Breast pieces(cut in to long thin strips)
Soy Sauce - 2 tsp
Kashmiri Red chili powder (Or paprika) - 2 tsp (Adjust as per your preference)
Salt - to taste (Use less as all the sauces used here would have salt in it)
White Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp (More or less)
Chili Sauce (I used Homemade Chili Garlic sauce- Recipe given below)  - 1  tbsp
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Oil - for frying (2 to 4 Tbsp Approx)

Other Ingredients 

Onion - 1 medium - thinly sliced)
Whole Red chili's - 2 to 3 no's (crushed)
Paprika or Kashmiri Red chili powder - 1 tsp (Or more)
Garlic - 2 to 4 No's - chopped
Ginger - a small piece finely chopped
Green or Red Bell Pepper (Capsicum) - thinly sliced.
Cashew Nuts - few no's
Green Onion - few tbsp's chopped (Optional)
Soy Sauce - 1 tsp
Chili Sauce (or home made Chili Garlic Sauce) - 2 tbsp
Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tsp (Use more if you like this dish less spicy)
Salt to taste - Use only if required  (as all the sauces would have salt in it)


For Homemade Chili Garlic sauce - soak 6 to 8 whole red chili's and 3-5 Garlic pieces in 2 to 3 tbsp vinegar for 15 to 30 minutes, blend the same using a small blender to make a sauce,this would have thin consistency when compared to the store bought Chili sauce but would definitely taste better.
this isn't stored for more than a day since it doesn't have any heating. I make it in small quantity usually for the preparation of certain Indo Chinese Dishes.

I prefer making chili garlic sauce at home as it gives a slight tangy flavor to the dish with the addition of vinegar, hence if you are using store bought chili sauce, add few drops of vinegar or lime juice to the recipe here - Only if you like slight sour taste in your dish :)
 (This is entirely optional as its not included anywhere in the original recipe )

Method 

* Marinate the chicken pieces with all the ingredients given under Frying except corn flour for 10 to 15 minutes. Heat Oil in a Non-stick pan (as we haven't used egg for binding, this tends to stick) sprinkle corn flour to the marinated chicken (for coating)  just before frying the same.

* Shallow fry the marinated chicken pieces till its all cooked and looks golden brown in color. 

Remove from heat.

* In the same pan with the left over oil (Remove some oil if it seems excess), add garlic first to induce its flavor to the fried oil, followed by ginger, sliced onion & dry whole chili's ,  saute the same till brown (should be nicely done) then add the fried Chicken pieces & sliced bell pepper's to it,cook stirring the same for 2-4 minutes.

* Add Paprika (Kashmiri Powder) , Cashew nuts , all the sauces and salt (If required) and stir fry for another 5 to 7 minutes until everything is coated nicely to the chicken pieces. May sprinkle some water (if you think that the dish is looking dry) 

* Finally add sugar, stir again and switch off the heat. Serve topping the dish with some chopped spring-onions.

Enjoy with Fried rice or any Noodle's. 

Notes :

In all the original recipes the chicken pieces are deep fried, I decided to shallow fry the same and use the same oil to make the gravy. Hence you may deep fry the chicken pieces to make it nice and crispy.

Use a Non stick pan to fry the chicken pieces as this recipe doesn't add egg to the marinade which creates a binding. If not using a Non stick pan to shallow fry, use half of 1 egg to give the chicken pieces nice coating.
(I didn't use egg here as it tends to make the batter/marinate little loose in consistency and would need more corn flour)

This dish is slightly spicy (Home made chili garlic sauce makes it more spicy) hence use less red chili's for the sauce (if preparing at home) to make it less spicy.


Cheers
TN