Dragon chicken (restaurant style dragon chicken)

      Dragon chicken is a Indo-Chinese dish. I think they got the name because of the real dragon chicken whose foot are red and this dish is also rich red color.(today I didn’t add any artificial food color for that red color).They go well as side dish for egg fried rice or chicken noodles. When the chicken is fried and cooked in right temperature ,the chicken dish will be crispy and the chicken inside will be juicy. The chicken can be marinated earlier and fried and sautéed when guest over or party.

Ingredients:

Marination:

Chicken - 1/2 kg( 1.10 lb)

Egg- 1

Black pepper- 1/2 tsp

Salt- as per taste

Vinegar- 1 tsp

Dark soya sauce- 1 tsp

Maida/all purpose flour- 3 tbsp

Corn flour-3 tbsp

Dragon chicken preparation:

Oil- 2 tsp

Ginger- 2 tbsp(2” peice)

Garlic-2 tbsp(3 big cloves)

Red chili- 5

Cashew-10

Capsicum/bell peppers-1 cup sliced(different colors)

Onion-1/2 sliced

White pepper- 1 tsp

Salt-as per taste

Vinegar- 1 tsp

Dark soya sauce- 1 tsp

Chili sauce- 1 tbsp

Water- 1 tbsp & 1/2 cup

Corn flour slurry- 2 tbsp water & 1 tsp corn flour/corn starch

Green onion

Recipe :

1. In a bowl,add thin striped chicken ( breast peice preferred), along to that add 1 egg ,followed by pepper and salt. Followed by vinegar and soya sauce. Mix all the wet ingredients with chicken and then add maida/all purpose flour and corn flour. No need to add any water. Just egg moisture is enough to coat the chicken. Cover and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes( vinegar helps the chicken to be tender ).

2. After 30 minutes, using a fork ,drop the marinated chicken one by one into medium hot oil( very hot oil make chicken turn hard and rubbery inside).cook for 5-6 minutes in medium flame till the outer layer is crispy and inside should be juicy.

3. For dragon chicken preparation, in a skillet add oil and add chopped garlic,ginger, red chili and cashew . Sauté for few minutes and add capsicum/bell pepper and sliced onion. Cook till the capsicum is half cooked.(half cooked capsicum/bell peppers give nice crunch to the dish).

4. Once the capsicum/bell pepper cooked, add white pepper(add black pepper if not available), salt,vinegar,soya sauce and chili sauce. Sprinkle some 1 tbsp water and mix the sauce with vegetables.Finally add fried chicken,1/2 cup water and sauté for just 2 minute in high flame to coat the sauce on chicken and chicken shouldn’t  lose its crunchiness. Garnish with green onion and serve with chicken fried rice,egg fried rice and chicken noodles.

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Chettinad chicken fry/ Chettinad kozhi varuval

                        Its been a myth that for non vegetarian chettiand dish used to be tasty and spicy.So i thought of trying their vegetarian dishes,but i tried non-vegetarian dish for my husband sake.  When i tried this recipe, my son who haven't ate chicken ,first time got impressed with the texture and color of the chicken dish and had three pieces.Second time when i prepared it, he liked it too. So this recipe has become one of the side dish on weekends.. Very easy to make and hope tasty too(My son like it).I got this recipe from the blog " You too can cook ".

Ingredients:

For chettinad powder:

Cumin seed - 3/4 tbsp
Coriander seed - 1 tbsp
Sombu/Fennel seed - 1/2 tbsp
Peppercorns -  1/4 tbsp
Red chili - 6

For frying :

Small onion - 8 no / Large red onion - 1/2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chicken - 1 lb
Green chilli - 2
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp( Garnish)

Recipe:

1.Clean the chicken ,slightly apply turmeric powder and coat the chicken.
2.Grind the onion in mixie and take it in a bowl.
3.Dry roast the content in " Chettinad powder" and powder it.
4.In a thick bottom kadai, add gingerly oil and once it is hot,add silted green chili,grind-ed onion paste and ginger garlic paste. Fry for awhile.
5.Once the raw smell fades, add the chicken pieces. Mix well.
6.After frying for 2 minutes,add powder 1 tbsp at a time. Add little bit food color at this time if needed( I add to impress my son who just started having chicken, it is purely optional).Add salt as per taste.Fry it in slow flame.
7.Fry for 2 more minutes first by closing the kadai and 5 more minutes without lid.Fry till the chicken is dry and crispy.Finally garnish with coriander leaves.

Notes:

1. Adding food color is purely optional. If you like dark brown color chicken fry,avoid food color.
2.If needed,we can add some lime juice on top while having.

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Tandoori chicken

          Tandoori chicken is most favorite dish for non-vegetarians. I have tried this dish many times but i am not satisfied by the texture . Either it will crispy out and not juicy inside. In conventional oven, i tried normal mode but the outer layer wont be that much crispier. Recently i tried broiler mode, tandoori chicken came out so so good, outside so crispy and inside juicy.

Ingredients :

Chicken leg - 2
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Chicken tandoori masala - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Lemon - 1/2

Chutney :

Cilantro or kothamali - 1/2 cup
Curd - 1/4 cup
Green chilli - 5
Ginger - 1 " piece
Salt - according to taste

Recipe:

                        Take a big bowl, add curd,chilli powder, tandoori masala powder,salt and mix it well. Now add chicken leg and marinate well. Transfer this to a plate and cover it with thin wrap and  refrigerate for 4 hours. After 4 hour, pre-heat the oven in broiler mode for 10 minutes. Take a oven safe plate and coat it with oil and place the chicken legs. Keep it inside conventional oven. Cook it for 20 minutes and take it out ,flip to other side and again keep it inside oven. Repeat this till the outer layer is crispy. Once done, poke with a fork to check whether it is cooked inside. Finally squeeze lemon on top.
            For chutney,just grind all the ingredients and serve it with tandoori chicken.

Note : 

*When you are keeping it in broiler mode, keep the tray in top layer stand.
* In conventional mode, the heat comes from bottom of the oven whereas in broiler mode, the heat comes        from top of the oven. That's why we should keep tray in top layer.
* When you are grilling something, use broiler mode.

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