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Eastern Delight Kebab Manchester founded in 2016 but this journey goes back to 1996, twenty years ago with a humble beginning in Dubai.

It’s been nearly a month since our eastern delight opened in Old Trafford Manchester and what a month it’s been. I wish we could have opened it years ago!

Eastern Delight is located at Seymour Grove old Trafford, close to Manchester united stadium & old Trafford cricket stadium. We are so lucky to acquire this place in the vicinity of one of the main suburbs of Manchester city. It’s lovely to see people coming from Manchester united and celebrating for their favourite teams.

We are glad now as it’s open, but it hasn’t been easy journey! Manchester has been one of the vibrant cities in the UK and if you are opening a fast food joint it takes huge amount of micro managing, and very little rest. Fortunately as this is our second venture after Dubai, we are used to fix things and develop our skills.

Eastern Delight will be offering you mouth-watering Indian food recipes every month. This week we will write about Indian food (chilli chicken) recipe. Check out this Indian recipe which is delicious and healthy.

Chilli Chicken- Batter fried chicken coated in garlic, soy and chilli gravy

Ingredients

(Serves for 4 people) 300gms boneless and skinless chicken thighs cut into small bite size pieces Oil for frying

For the batter

  • 2 tbsp corn flour
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • ½ tsp kashmiri chilli powder or mild paprika
  • ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper powder
  • 1 tsp garlic and ginger paste
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 3 tbsp water

For the sauce

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 spring onions finely chopped (set aside the green ends for garnish)
  • 1 green chilli cut in three (add more if you like it spicy)
  • 8-10 garlic finely chopped
  • ½" ginger finely chopped
  • 220gms green pepper diced
  • 80gms red onion diced
  • 1 tbsp chilli garlic sauce
  • 3 tbsp Kecap manis
  • 50ml water
  • 1 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tsp of water
  • Salt to taste

Chilli chicken is one of the famous dishes in India. Delicious chicken coated in a thick batter and fried until crisp are added to garlicky chilli juicy gravy. It can be served up with some noodles or fried rice; it’s the sort of food we need in the winters to warm up a cold evening.

You can deep fry the chicken pieces if you prefer, we tend not to as we eat it so often. Also I have used chicken thigh which are a much more succulent cut and despite frying and then simmering in the gravy, doesn’t dry out. I have used Kecap manis which is a thicker and slightly sweeter soy sauce and is ideal to get a dark rich sauce but if you can’t find any just swap it for a dark soy and add a pinch of sugar to balance the flavour. Also a regular shop bought chilli garlic sauce for this recipe is great.

Method

  1. Heat oil in a wide sauce pan or a wok to the level of 1cm. In a mixing bowl add the corn flour, plain flour, chilli powder, black pepper and ginger garlic paste along with the salt. Add the vinegar and water; mix it to make a thick batter. Add the chicken pieces to it and mix well coating all the pieces with the batter.
  2. Fry the chicken in the hot oil in batches for 1-2 minutes. They should have a slight colour all over. Drain the chicken on kitchen paper and set aside.
  3. To make the sauce; heat the vegetable oil in a wok or kadhai on a medium heat. Add the white part of the spring onions and fry for a few seconds followed by the green chilli, chopped garlic and chopped ginger. Fry for 10 seconds and add the green peppers along with the red onions. Sauté for 1-2minutes until they begin to soften.
  4. Add the chilli garlic sauce and the dark sticky soy (kecap manis) & stir well. Add the water and bring to a boil and simmer for a 1minute on a low heat. Add the corn flour water mix, season to taste and simmer for a further 2 minutes as it begins to thicken. Turn the heat off and cool the sauce slightly.
  5. When you’re ready to serve add the fried chicken pieces to the gravy, stirring well making sure to coat all the pieces with the sauce evenly. Simmer the sauce on a low heat for a minute. Serve warm with some noodles or fried rice with a garnish of green chopped spring onions.