Fiery hot and full of garlic flavor, this Indo Chinese Chilli garlic chicken is a must make recipe. Enjoy it with fried rice or plain steamed rice. Here is how to make it.
About the recipe
This is an Indo Chinese dish which is quintessentially spicy and full of flavor of garlic. It is served across the world in many Chinese restaurants.
That subtle blend of the flavors of this Chilli Chicken served with Fried Rice feels so divine that you feel like feasting on these meals every week. So, preparing these two dishes has become more or less like a weekend ritual at my home, ha!
Recipe Summary
To make this delicious chilli chicken starter, first the chicken pieces are marinated in a simple marinade of ginger, garlic, vinegar and salt. It is kept aside for at least half an hour. Then the chicken pieces are coated with some cornflour and all purpose flour to give it a lovely crunch on frying. A pan is heated with oil and the chicken pieces are deep fried in the pan till it’s browned evenly.
Tips
For this recipe, we’re also making a flavorful sauce using ginger, garlic, chilles, red chilli paste, soy sauce and ketchup. Once the gravy is cooked, chopped capsicum and the fried chicken pieces are to be added, you can also add chopped onions.
In most restaurants, you’ll find that this is quite spicy, but you can make changes to the number of chillies and add it to this recipe based on your tolerance level. This chicken tastes delicious when it’s nicely coated with sauce and served hot.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this chicken with your choice of Fried rice or as a side with Hakka Noodles.
Recipe Card

Chilli Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 300 g Chicken Breast (Cut into small pieces)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 teaspoon Rice Vinegar
- 4 tablespoon Cornflour (Divided)
- 2 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoon Oil (Plus for frying)
- 2 tablespoon Garlic (Chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Ginger (Chopped)
- 3-4 Red Chillies (Slit into half)
- 1 tablespoon Red Chilli Paste
- 1 teaspoon Soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon Tomato Ketchup
- 2 capsicum (Cut into square pieces)
- 2 tablespoon Spring Onion Greens (Chopped)
Instructions
- Mix salt, ginger garlic paste and vinegar in a bowl.
- Add chicken pieces and mix well and keep aside for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil for frying the chicken pieces in a pan.
- Add 2 tablespoon cornflour and all purpose flour in the chicken and coat the chicken well with the dry mixture.
- Deep fry the chicken pieces till golden brown and keep aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan.
- When the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger and red chilies.
- Fry till the garlic is slightly browned.
- Add red chilli paste, soy sauce and tomato ketchup and fry for a few seconds.
- Mix 2 tablespoon cornflour in a cup of water and add it in the pan.
- Cook till the gravy thickens.
- Adjust water according to your liking.
- Add capsicum and fried chicken pieces.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve hot with fried rice or steamed rice.
Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
Simply magnificent pics… and the recipe does appear a lot easier than I imagined… something that hopefully even I won’t screw up 🙂
msnehamathur
Thnx Roshan
Thalia @ butter and brioche
You definitely have got me craving a massive bowl of this chilli, garlic chicken right now.. all that sauce is so enticing!
asiya
Chilli chicken that you have shared has left me crave for it all the time…I tried it twice and everyone loved the garlic flavor which I added after looking at your recipe…Thanks for sharing it…
msnehamathur
Thnx a lot for trying Asiya. I am so glad you liked it 🙂
priya
plz put videos of ur recipies ,that helps to learn new recipes to more people
msnehamathur
Check out my youtube channels Priya.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ljm9wQRdcoRE6glkdvH5A/videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRWYSqSzVZRq99hqWfVkhow/videos
Jillian
Capsicum – bell peppers? Going to make this for dinner this week over some rice, YUM!
Mohit Mathur
You can use any color capsicum.
Neha Mathur
Yes sure. You can.
Paleo Diet
I like this recipe.please make some more videos of different recipes. cold pressed groundnut oil also add some more fun in to your food.so try ii now!!
walter
Thanks, great recipe, tastes very good
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot for trying 🙂
Ujjaini Ganguli
Thanks!! It was easy to cook and the end result is very delicious.
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot for trying and leaving your feedback 🙂
Shriya
I made this yesterday and turned out so good, we all loved it .
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot for trying 🙂
Balle
Can this be tried with fish fillets or prawns?
Neha Mathur
Yes sure, you can.
Rajni
What kind of red chilli paste do you use? Do you make your own? Recipe please or bottle brand of chilli paste. Thank you.
Neha Mathur
I have a homemade red chilli paste recipe on the blog. Do check it out. https://www.whiskaffair.com/red-chili-paste/
Paul Cheema
I have always been a fan of chilly chicken, but didn’t know how to make it. I tried it today. It turned out fantastic. Thank you very much.
Neha Mathur
Very glad to hear this 🙂
IM
Hello! What kind or brand of red chili paste do you use? I am a little confused.
Neha Mathur
I used homemade paste. There is a recipe on the blog. But if not possible, you can use any red chilli paste. It’s available in Indian or Asian stores or even online.
Rachna
Hi Neha,
Love your recipes. Can I swap chicken with paneer for this recipe? Anything I need to change in the steps for it?
Thanks
Rachna
Hi Neha, I love your recipes. For this chilli garlic chicken can I swap chicken with paneer? Any changes in the recipe needed for paneer?
Thanks
Neha Mathur
Yes, you can do that. No changes needed.
Joan Edwards
Can this recipe be frozen?
Neha Mathur
I don’t recommend it. It has cornstarch added to it which will change texture once thawed.