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    Chilli Chicken Recipe (Dry & Gravy)

    Last Updated On: Apr 14, 2025 by Aarthi

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    Chilli Chicken is a popular Indo-Chinese dish which is famous all over India. Crispy fried chicken tossed in a spicy tangy chilli sauce to create a fiery experience. Restaurant style chilli chicken is made with onions, ginger, garlic and sauces pairs well with egg fried rice and hakka noodles. Learn how to make spicy chilli chicken recipe gravy and dry version with step by step pictures.

    chilli chicken served with spring onions

    Chilli Chicken

    Even though i cook a lot for my family and for this blog. Someday i want to be lazy and indulge myself from restaurant foods. During those days we would dine outside in some of our favorite restaurants, but most of the time, i love to order some foods, cuddle up in a blanket and watch my favorite shows on TV enjoying those hot foods. 

    Table of Contents

    • About Chilli Chicken
    • Chilli Chicken Ingredients
    • How to Make Chilli Chicken Dry (Stepwise Pictures)
    • Chilli Chicken Gravy (Stepwise Pictures)
    • Expert Tips
    • Serving Suggestions
    • 📖 Recipe Card
    • Chilli Chicken | Chilli Chicken Recipe (Dry & Gravy)

    About Chilli Chicken

    Chilli chicken is a popular Indo-Chinese dish of chicken of Hakka Chinese heritage. In India, this may include a variety of dry chicken preparations. Though mainly boneless chicken is used in this dish, some people also use bone-in chicken too.

    One of my favourite foods to order on a take out is this chilli chicken. There is something so tasty about the restaurant style chilli chicken recipe. It is so delicious and kind of addictive, I have tried my hands on so many variety of chilli chicken recipe and finally got the best one. This is it!

    Numerous recipes exist for the dish of the same name depending on the restaurateur, including:

    • Green chilli chicken.
    • Tangrai chilli chicken.
    • Chinese chilli chicken.
    • Bengal chilli chicken.

    Similar Recipes,
    Stir fry Chicken
    Chicken with Cashews
    Chicken 65

    Chilli Chicken Ingredients

    ingredients for chilli chicken

    For Fried Chicken

    Chicken - Use boneless chicken breast chopped into small pieces. You can use boneless chicken thighs. Make sure you cut into small pieces. Chicken cooks faster when cut into small pieces also it coats well in the thick sauce when fried in small pieces.

    All Purpose Flour - plain flour creates a binding for the chilli chicken. I like to use combination for flour and cornstarch to create the coating for chicken.

    Cornstarch - cornflour or cornstarch creates helps for the crispiness. A combination of cornstarch and plain flour creates the crispy coating.

    For Chilli Chicken Sauce

    Sauces - Tomato Ketchup, Green Chilli Sauce, Vinegar and Soy Sauce is used in chilli chicken.

    Onions - you can use chopped white part of the spring onions in the chilli chicken.

    Ginger & Garlic - use chopped ginger and garlic for the flavourings of the chilli chicken.

    Chillies - chillies is the main ingredient for making chilli chicken. it adds the spicy kick for the popular indo-chinese dish. Use dry red chillies and fresh green chillies for added spice. I like to add a dash of chilli powder.

    Garnish - spring onions and coriander leaves is added for garnish.

    chilli chicken dry

     Chilli Chicken Preparation (3 Easy Steps)

    Frying Chicken

    Start by frying some chicken. Take chicken in a bowl, add in flour, cornflour, salt, pepper, soy sauce, ginger garlic paste and water. mix well. Set aside for 10 mins. Heat some oil for deep frying, drop the chicken in and fry till golden, drain and set aside.

    Making Sauce

    Now make the sauce, heat some butter in a pan, add in ginger garlic and fry till golden. Add in onions. green chillies, salt and sugar. Toss well. capsicum goes in and mix well. Add in red chilli powder, soy sauce, green chilli sauce, vinegar, ketchup adn mix well. Add in water and cook till oil separates.

    Making chilli chicken

    fried chicken goes in and toss well. Add in pepper and spring onion. Mix well. Serve hot.

    chilli chicken dry garnished with spring onions

    How to Make Chilli Chicken Dry (Stepwise Pictures)

    For Frying Chicken (Fried Chicken for Chilli Chicken)

    1)Take chopped chicken in a bowl. I use boneless chicken breast which is cut into small pieces.

    take boneless chicken in a bowl

    2)Add in plain flour and cornstarch.

    add cornstarch and plain flour

    3)Add salt and freshly crushed black pepper in the chicken.

    add salt and pepper

    4)Add in soy sauce.

    add in soy sauce to chicken

    5)Add in ginger garlic paste in the chicken.

    add in ginger garlic paste to chicken

    6)Add a splash of water in the chicken to mix the chicken with flour.

    add a splash of water to chicken

    7)Mix the chicken with flour, salt & pepper together. This will create a thick coating over chicken.

    chicken mixed with flour and cornstarch

    8)Heat oil for deep frying. Drop chicken one by one in batches. Fry till golden brown, it will take around 3 to 4 minutes for the chicken to get cooked.

    add chicken in hot oil

    9)Strain the fried chicken onto some paper towel. Set aside.

    crispy chicken fried for chilli chicken

    Making Chilli Chicken Sauce (dry)

    10)Heat a tbsp of butter or oil in a saute pan. Add in finely chopped ginger and garlic. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes till light golden.

    for chilli chicken sauce. Heat butter and add ginger and garlic

    11)Add in dry red chillies and saute for few minutes. Add in sliced onions, slit green chillies.

    add sliced onions, dry red chillies and green chillies

    12)Season with salt, sugar. Stir fry for few seconds till light golden.

    season with salt and sugar.

    13)Add in sliced bell peppers | capsicum.

    add in capsicum and saute for 2 mins

    14)Saute for 2 minutes till cooked. It will get translucent.

    saute for 2 minutes till onions capsicum is cooked

    15)Add in soy sauce.

    add soy sauce

    16)Add in green chilli sauce.

    add green chilli sauce

    17)Add in vinegar. Stir fry the sauce with onions and capsicum till reduced.

    add vinegar and mix well

    18)Add in chilli powder and mix well. Stir fry the spice with onions for few minutes.

    add in chilli powder and mix well

    19)Add in tomato ketchup. Mix well with the onions.

    add in tomato ketchup and mix well

    20)To create the onion masala. Add a splash of water to the onion mix.

    add a splash of water

    21)Mix the onion capsicum with the sauces. Cook for few minutes till thickens.

    cook for 2 minutes

    22)Add in fried chicken in the sauces.

    add in fried chicken in chilli chicken sauce

    23)Add in crushed black pepper.

    add in black pepper

    24)Add in chopped spring onions and toss well.

    add in spring onions

    25)Toss well chicken with sauces.

    chilli chicken tossed with chilli sauce

    26)You can serve Chilli Chicken Dry with noodles and fried rice.

    chilli chicken dry garnished with spring onions

    Chilli Chicken Gravy (Stepwise Pictures)

    For making chilli chicken gravy style, you have to make the chicken as mentioned above. Coat with flour, seasoning and fry till crispy.

    1)For making sauce. Heat oil in a kadai. Add in chopped ginger, garlic, onions and slit green chillies.

    chilli chicken gravy sauce. Heat oil add ginger, garlic, onions and chillies

    2)Saute the mixture till golden brown.

    saute till golden brown

    3)Add in salt and sugar. Mix well with the onions.

    add salt and sugar and mix well

    4)Add in soy sauce.

    add soy sauce and mix well

    5)Add in green chilli sauce, vinegar. If you want you can add some red chilli sauce and ketchup as well. But for this version I didn't add ketchup.

    add in green chilli sauce and mix well

    6)Mix the sauces with the onions masala. Add some water and bring it to a boil.

    pour in water and bring it to a boil

    7)Mix a tsp of cornstarch with some water and add into the gravy. Cook the mixture till the gravy thickens slightly.

    add in cornstarch slurry

    8)This is how it looks. The sauce has thickened and glossy.

    mix well with sauce

    9)Add in fried chicken. Cook it with the sauce for 2 minutes.

    add in fried chicken and mix

    10)Add in chopped spring onions and coriander leaves. Mix well.

    add spring onions and mix well

    11)Serve hot.

    chilli chicken gravy version served with noodles

    More Indo-Chinese Recipes to Try

    • Vegetable Spring Rolls Recipe
    • Clay Pot Chicken Rice Recipe
    • Momos Soup Recipe (Soup for momos)
    • Hot and Sour Dumpling Soup Recipe
    • Gobi Manchurian Recipe
    • Schezwan Chicken Recipe
    • Stir Fry Chicken & Vegetables
    • Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

    Expert Tips

    For Crispy Chilli Chicken Batter

    To get crispy texture in fried chicken. Here are few tips. Use equal portion of cornstarch to plain flour. Add ½ tsp of baking powder in the chicken when frying to get crispy texture.

    Double frying

    Fry the chicken in hot oil for 2 minutes, strain this using a slotted spoon onto some paper towel lined plate. Set aside for 5 minutes. Now heat oil again till very hot, Drop the fried chicken again in hot oil and fry till golden and crispy. This double frying technique will make the chicken super crispy.

    Chilli Chicken Sauce

    Balance is everything. Taste and adjust the sauce with perfect balance of salt, sugar, soy sauce and vinegar. Add in kashmiri chilli powder for the bright red colour.

    Dry or Gravy

    The consistency of the sauce will give you dry or gravy style chilli chicken.

    Serving Suggestions

    Chilli chicken is best served with fried rice, noodles or with soups. We enjoy it with steamed veg momos and chilli garlic momos. Here are few options for you to serve with.

    Fried Rice - choice of fried rice options are veg fried rice, chicken fried rice, egg fried rice, mushroom fried rice and hot garlic fried rice.

    Noodles - my favorite combination with chilli chicken is veg noodles and hakka noodles and paneer noodles.

    Soups - chilli chicken can be served as a perfect appetizer with chicken clear soup, hot & sour chicken soup, chicken soup & veg soup.

    📖 Recipe Card

    Chilli Chicken | Chilli Chicken Recipe (Dry & Gravy)

    Chilli Chicken is a popular Indo-Chinese dish which is famous all over India. Crispy fried chicken tossed in a spicy tangy chilli sauce to create a fiery experience. Restaurant style chilli chicken is made with onions, ginger, garlic and sauces pairs well with fried rice and hakka noodles. Learn how to make spicy chilli chicken recipe gravy and dry version with step by step pictures.
    5 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
    Servings: 6 servings
    Calories: 319kcal

    Ingredients

    Chilli Chicken Dry

    • 750 grams Chicken boneless
    • ½ cup All Purpose Flour
    • ½ cup Cornstarch
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 tsp Black Pepper
    • 2 tsp Soy Sauce
    • 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
    • 3 tbsp Water
    • Oil for deep frying

    For Chilli Chicken Sauce

    • 2 tbsp Butter
    • 2 tbsp Ginger finely chopped
    • 2 tbsp Garlic finely chopped
    • 1 large Onions sliced thinly
    • 2 slit Green Chilli
    • 1 Capsicum sliced
    • 3 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
    • 3 tbsp Green Chilli Sauce
    • 2 tsp Vinegar
    • 2 tsp Soy Sauce
    • 2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
    • ¼ cup Water
    • 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
    • 3 Spring Onions finely chopped
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 tsp Sugar

    Chilli Chicken (Gravy Version)

    • 1 tbsp Butter
    • 1 tbsp Ginger chopped finely
    • 1 tbsp Garlic chopped finely
    • 1 large Onion chopped finely
    • 4 alit Green Chillies
    • Salt to taste
    • ½ tsp Sugar
    • 2 tsp Soy Sauce
    • 1 tsp Vinegar
    • 3 tbsp Green Chilli Sauce
    • 1 cup Water
    • 2 tsp Cornstarch
    • 3 Spring Onions chopped finely

    Instructions

    Chilli Chicken Dry

    • Start by frying some chicken. Take chicken in a bowl, add in flour, cornflour, salt, pepper, soy sauce, ginger garlic paste and water. mix well. Set aside for 10 mins.
    • Heat some oil for deep frying, drop the chicken in and fry till golden, drain and set aside.
    • Now make the sauce, heat some butter in a pan, add in ginger garlic and fry till golden. Add in onions. green chillies, salt and sugar. Add in capsicum and mix well. Add in red chilli powder, soy sauce, green chilli sauce, vinegar, ketchup adn mix well. Add in water and cook till oil separates and thickens.
    • Add in fried chicken and toss well. Add in black pepper and spring onion. Mix well. Serve hot.

    Chilli Chicken with Gravy

    • Heat butter in a pan, add ginger, garlic and onions and saute for a min. Add green chillies and mix well. Add in all sauces, salt and sugar and mix well.
    • Add water and bring it to a boil. Add in cornstarch slurry and mix well. Add fried chicken in and cook for 2 mins. Add spring onions and serve.

    Video

    YouTube video

    Notes

    1. When frying chicken, you can add a dash of baking powder for crispy texture. 
    2. You can double fry the chicken to achieve crispy texture.
    3. Taste and adjust the sauce with sugar, soy sauce and vinegar.
    4. Chilli chicken taste best with fried rice, noodles and rice.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1servings | Calories: 319kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 515mg | Potassium: 361mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1241IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @yummytummyaarthi or tag #yummytummyaarthi!
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    53
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    Aarthi

    About Aarthi

    Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jamila Inayat

      at

      Hii wht cn v add instead of green chilli paste or hw do v mke dis paste

      Reply
    2. Anonymous

      at

      Vow yummy

      Reply
    3. Anonymous

      at

      Looks delicious... Hats off to ur effort in trying out new recipes..

      Reply
    4. Aarthi

      at

      @Jamila Inayatu can use red chilli sauce then

      Reply
    5. jamila

      at

      Okk thxx aarthi..ur all recipes r awesme..kp dng amzng cookng n v all r becmng great cooks coz of u..

      Reply
    6. plasterer bristol

      at

      wow! great recipe. one of my favorites Going to give this a go. Thanks for sharing this.

      Simon

      Reply
    7. Anonymous

      at

      @Aarthi doesn't adding the tomato ketchup make the chicken sweet. Is it all right not to add the tomato sauce?

      Reply
    8. Aarthi

      at

      @Anonymousno it wont make sweet, it will make it taste great

      Reply
    9. Jeevitha sandeep

      at

      Tried this recipe!! It tasted delicious!! Have become fan of your recipes !!!! 🙂 keep going !!!

      Reply
    10. Jeevitha sandeep

      at

      Tried this recipe !! It tasted delicious !! 🙂

      Reply
    11. Purnima Selvamurugan

      at

      Tries this one tonight. I was like 😱😱. It came out So perfect Aarthi. Like hotel made.. Thanks a ton. 😍😍

      Reply
    12. Anonymous

      at

      Great recipe......juz lyk hotel made....thnx a lot.....!!!!

      Reply
    13. ayesha

      at

      #aarthi cant we skip spring onions ?? Wuld it mke the dish not so gud ?? As it is no availble during summers... In our region..

      Reply
    14. Aarthi

      at

      @ayeshayes u can skip spring onions

      Reply
    15. Sushmitha

      at

      Hello Aarthi,
      Tried this recipe today, came out really well. I didnt had chilli sauce, so skipped it. Is their any alternative for it?
      Husband liked it a lot.
      Thanks 🙂

      Reply
    16. Aarthi

      at

      @Sushmithajust skip it or use ground red chillies and eztra little vinegar

      Reply
    17. FARIDA

      at

      Hello Aarthi,
      Tried this recipe today, came out really well. Thanks a lot

      Reply
    18. Aayushee Gautam

      at

      made on the eve of holi.. was ultimate lip smacking dish. it came out to be near perfect! thankyou @aarthi ! love ur recipes!!

      Reply
    19. Debasish

      at

      Hello Aarthi,

      Made it first time. Went perfect in every way. But I did not follow your quantities at all. For example, I had cut down on cornflour to almost 1/3rd, just one heaped teaspoon of All Purpose Flour / Maida, increased chili sauce quite a bit, cut on zinger and garlic, soy sauce etc.
      Even after this, the whole family and guests perticularly were not willing to belive it was home made.
      Thanks again and all the best wishes
      Debasish

      Reply
    20. yoga bharathi

      at

      I like this recipe. Thanks for sharing.

      Fyndus cheap deals

      Reply
    21. Kailash Rava

      at

      Finnaly I got the detailed receipe .. tnk fr sharing ..

      Reply
    22. deepak

      at

      wow...looking delicious..my mouth is watering..i like this recipe..because i like the dried Chilli Chicken very much..Thanks for the recipe..

      Reply
    23. Unknown

      at

      so useful will surely try out and let u know how it rurned out , thanks for the reciepe

      Reply
    24. Anonymous

      at

      Tried it and it came out excellent. Used egg for binding.

      Reply
    25. Anonymous

      at

      Can v add egg

      Reply
    26. Suriya

      at

      Hey ! Good recipe ! Came out well ! Its more like a Manchurian than chilly chicken ! But tastes really good ! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe !

      Reply
    27. Deepa

      at

      5 stars
      Here is a recipe for Chili Chicken which is very useful to me in many ways and after seeing many recipes I found here in Sateos I felt a lot of uniqueness.

      Reply
    28. Indiandesitadka.com

      at

      5 stars
      Indian food in Calgary

      Reply
    5 from 5 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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