Chicken Munchurian - Restaurant style - Step by step

Chicken munchurian is a very famous Chinese dish, where chicken is fried and dumped into a spicy sauce. Adding chicken broth , brings out a restaurant flavor to the sauce. We can easily prepare chicken broth at home, refer my notes for making chicken broth . Chicken munchurian is served with fried rice . My all time favourite chicken.

Ingredients:

For marination:

1.Boneless chicken         -         1 lb

2.egg                               -          1

3.Pepper pwdr                -          1/2 tbsp

4.Corn flour                    -          1/2 tsp

 

 

For the gravy:

1.Chicken broth              -          1 cup

2.Onion                           -           1/2 (thinly sliced)

3.Red capsicum              -           1/2 (sliced)

4.Green capsicum           -           1/2 (sliced)

5.Ginger                          -           1/2 inch (chopped)

6.Garlic                           -            2 to 3 pods (chopped)

7.Green chillies               -            2 (chopped)

8.Soy sauce                      -           1 tbsp.

9.Corn flour                     -            1/4 tsp

10.Salt                              -            as required

11.Oil                               -            as needed

12.Chilli sauce                 -            1 tbsp.

13.Spring onions             -            few

 

 

Method:

Wash the chicken very well. pat dry it  using a kitchen towel. Take a mixing bowl, add egg and whisk it.Now add pepper pwdr, little salt, corn flour and mix it. Now dump in the washed chicken and mix it. Let it rest for 1/2 an hour or overnight. Slowly fry the chicken in oil, till they are cooked well ,but not crispy. Strain the fried chicken on a kitchen towel.

* Slice the veges as in the picture and keep it ready. Take a wok ,add oil. Now we are going to cook it in high flame. This way, the veges doesn't cook fully and retain its shape. One more reason , it gives a smoky flavor to the chicken. Now throw the sliced onion, ginger ,green chillies and garlic pieces into the wok. Fry them a bit. Now add the sliced red and green capsicum and give it a stir. The veges has to be bit crisp.At this point, if you want, we can add a pinch of ajinomotto to the wok. It enhances the flavor.

* Add the soy sauce, chilli sauce and give it a quick mix.  Now pour the chicken broth and let it blend with the veges. Take a tbsp. of chicken broth and mix it with corn flour and keep it ready.When it comes to a boil, add the corn flour mixture. Now the gravy will start to thicken. at this point, add the fried chicken and mix. Adjust salt to taste.Turn off the stove and garnish with spring onion pieces. Serve it with fried rice, noodles or naans. The consistency of the chicken munchurian can be altered according to our wish. If you want, thin runny gravy, then add less corn flour. If you want thicker gravy, then increase the corn flour .



Notes:
* Adding chicken broth brings out the real restaurant flavor to the dish.We can prepare the chicken broth at home.Just throw some pieces of chicken with bones, half onion (cubed), some peepr corns, 1/2 inch ginger, ,stems of coriander leaves and add water. Pressure cook in medium flame for 2 whistles. Your broth is ready. Just strain the broth and discard all the other ingredients. We can store the broth for atleast 4 days in fridge.
* Don't over cook the veges then , they will become mushy.
* Don't cook the chicken to crisp.
* Check the amount of corn flour , because, it may thicken the gravy a lot. If you want to make it thin, add some more broth and bring it to boil.
* To make it spicy, we can also add some chilli flakes.