Chicken Manchurian is a simple and delicious Indo-Chinese side dish. This Chicken Manchurian dish is prepared with boneless fried chicken that is stirred in a sweet and savory sauce. The Manchurian sauce used in this recipe delivers an authentic taste and flavor to the dish. This Chicken Manchurian is a perfect side dish or starter for any party or even on a regular day. And it tastes great with fried rice, schezwan fried rice, egg fried rice, vegetable fried rice, and similar Indo-Chinese foods.
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What is Chicken Manchurian?
Chicken Manchurian is one of the famous and tasty Indo-Chinese restaurant-style side dishes. It is basically a fusion food that involves Chinese especially Manchurian cuisine and Indian cooking methods.
This Manchurian is usually prepared with boneless fried chicken, bell peppers, and a combination of sauces. The sauces like ketchup, soy, and garlic chili sauce deliver a sweet, spicy, and sour taste to this dish. And we can prepare this dish either in dry or gravy form and served for lunch and dinner.
While there are plenty of Chinese foods popular across the world, this Indo- Chinese Chicken Manchurian is unique for its flavor and taste. The combination of Indian spices and Chinese sauces makes this dish entirely different from other chicken dry or gravy recipes.
This Chicken Manchurian recipe is one of the popular spreads in Indo-Chineses restaurants particularly in India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries. It is usually served with egg, chicken, seafood noodles, or fried rice dishes. Besides, this boneless Manchurian is a super simple recipe to make at home. And all we need is just 30 minutes to prepare this delicious dish.
Ingredients
The ingredients used for the Chicken Manchurian dish are simple and it should be easily available in Asian grocery stores around. The ingredients for marination are boneless chicken pieces, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, chili and pepper powder, salt, all-purpose, and cornflour.
And we need ketchup, garlic chili, and soy sauce for making Manchurian sauce. Having colorful bell peppers as one of the ingredients gives a restaurant-style look to this chicken Manchurian dish. And cornflour slurry is usually used to thicken the sauces. Finally, to garnish we also require some spring onions and white sesame seeds to enjoy a tasty and crunchy chicken in every bite.
How to make Chicken Manchurian?
The recipe I have shared here is the easy dry version of Chicken Manchurian. And the quantity serves up to 3 people. In this part, let us discuss how to prepare/ make this Chicken Manchurian easily at home. And the procedure to make this recipe is super easy and you can make the dish in under 30 minutes.
To give a clear idea, the following are the steps involved in making this dish.
- Marination of chicken
- Frying chicken
- Preparation of Manchurian
1. Steps to marinate Chicken
To marinate the chicken, first I have taken chicken breast pieces or bone-in pieces and mixed the marination ingredients mentioned in the recipe card below. Then I gave a good mix and kept it ready for frying.
Even though I preferred boneless chicken here, you could also use bone-in chicken if you want to. Personally, I have tried both the version with and without bone which turned out pretty good to me. Especially, Chicken wings are good to be a part of the Manchurian recipe.
2. Steps to fry the Chicken
To fry the chicken, in a pan with medium heat, I poured oil and fried the chicken until both sides turned golden in color. Then I removed and reserved them for later use.
3. Steps to prepare Manchurian
To make Chicken Manchurian, first I sautéed the garlic with the leftover oil in the pan. Then I sautéed the onion and spring onions to soft. Once it turned soft, I stir fried in the yellow and orange bell peppers. After that, I mixed in the ketchup, garlic chili, and soy sauce. Then I introduced the corn flour slurry and gave a quick mix. Finally, I added the fried chicken and gave a good toss.
To give a restaurant-style look to this Chicken Manchurian, I have also added some spring onions and white sesame seeds at the end.
Variations
Chicken Manchurian is a tangy, spicy, and sweet starter or side dish that has a lot of variations. Although we can replicate the dish according to individual taste preferences, it is usually prepared in dry or gravy form. Let us see the variations of the Chicken Manchurian recipe in the following sections.
1. Gravy recipe
Chicken Manchurian gravy is a delicious dish that usually looks thick saucier inconsistency. In another word, it is thick yet in a free-flowing consistency. To make it as gravy, a generous amount of water or Broth should be added after stirring in the sauces, and then the cornflour slurry does its job to thicken it. The rest of the procedure remains the same similar to the one I shared here in this post.
Apart from that, we can also make the Chicken Manchurian with minced chicken instead of pieces. Moreover, here the chicken is shaped into balls before frying.
2. Dry recipe
Chicken Manchurian dry recipe is slightly dry but not exactly like Chilli Chicken or Chicken 65 recipe. The usage of the Manchurian sauce gives a nice glazy coating to the chicken which also makes an irresistible flavor to the dish. The recipe I have shared in this post is about the dry version of Manchurian, so let us see it in detail with step-by-step instructions in the next section below.
Tips
The key to getting a perfect Chicken Manchurian is to use the ingredients in the right proportion and cooking to the right consistency. More importantly, the Chicken Manchurian sauce that is a combination of ketchup, soy, and garlic chili sauce is the main ingredient that gives the whole Indo-Chinese flavor to the dish. But you could always adjust the ingredients as per your family's needs to suit their taste buds.
And another important point to note is that we have to sauté all the ingredients in medium-high heat without burning them. This will help the dish to absorb all the flavors from the seasonings without altering its flavor.
This Chicken Manchurian is an appetizing side dish especially when you want to try something new from regular dishes. And I hope you will try and enjoy this dish with your family and loved ones.
Storage Suggestions
This Manchurian stays good in the refrigerator for a day in a closed container. Even though I prefer to consume this dish fresh, it also freezes perfectly in the freezer for up to 10 days in individual zip lock bags or containers. And to make the best use of it, always make sure to reheat only the portion of the chicken that you want to enjoy.
Serving Suggestions
Chicken Manchurian is a tasty side dish that tastes great with fried rice and Matar Pulao, or plain basmati rice, white rice. It also tastes great as a starter with a bowl of Vegetable Soup. and Maggi Noodles.
You could also find similar recipes below and more at Chicken Recipes.
More Chicken dry recipes:
More Chicken Breast Recipes.
Looking for different chicken recipes to cook for your next meal or a party? Then you could also check this collection of Indo-Chinese Recipes, Indian Chicken Dry, and Semi Gravy Recipes to enjoy with your family and loved ones. Have a look!
Chicken Manchurian recipe video
I have also shared a video of this Chicken Manchurian that I believe would help you to make a quick dish easily at home. You could also find this recipe in story format for a quick reference.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Manchurian
Ingredients
- 1.1 lb Chicken, boneless
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Pepper Powder
- 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 3 tsp Soy Sauce, 1 tsp for marination + 2 tsp for stir fry
- 1 tsp Chili Sauce
- 2 tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 1 tbsp Corn Flour
- ¼ cup Oil
- ¼ cup Onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp Garlic, chopped
- ¼ cup Spring Onion, chopped
- ¼ cup Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped
- ¼ cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped
- 1 tbsp Ketchup
- 1 tbsp Szechuan Sauce, or chili sauce
- ¼ cup Spring Onion, to garnish
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds, white
- ¼ cup Cornstarch Slurry, (2 tsp cornstarch + ¼ cup water)
Instructions
To Marinate
- In a bowl, take nicely cleaned bite-size chicken pieces, and add ginger garlic paste, chili powder, pepper powder, salt, soy sauce, all-purpose flour, and cornstarch
- Mix everything well, and keep it ready for frying (I started frying it immediately but you can also rest it for 15 minutes)
To Fry the Chicken
- In a pan with medium heat, pour oil and place the marinated chicken one by one and fry for 5 to 7 minutes on both sides or until it turns golden in color
- Remove the chicken from the oil and reserve it for later use
To Prepare Chicken Manchurian Dry
- In the same pan with the remaining oil add garlic and saute until it turns aromatic. Make sure not to burn them which may alter the taste of the dish
- Add the onion, spring onion, and saute until they turn soft
- Now add the yellow and red bell pepper and give a nice stir
- Add ketchup, chili sauce, soy sauce and give a good mix
- Now add the cornstarch slurry and give a nice mix
- Add the fried chicken and mix well
- Add the spring onion and white sesame seeds and give a final stir and now the Chicken Manchurian dry is ready for you to taste and enjoy
To Serve
- Serve this delicious Chicken Manchurian dry with Schezwan Chicken Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice, Veg Fried Rice, or just as a starter
Video
Notes
- The key to get a perfect chicken manchurian dish is to use the right combinations of sauces which makes the dish flavorful and tasty. So I suggest you to stick with the same
- Always make sure to sauté the garlic in medium heat to avoid burning which may alter the taste and flavor of the dish
- Even though this recipe is made with boneless chicken, you could also prepare this manchurian with bone in chicken
- You could also prepare ball shaped chicken manchurian with keema chicken for a different version
- This chicken manchurian dry recipe can be also made in gravy form by adding water or broth to the dish
- This chicken manchurian can be served with veg, egg, chicken and seafood noodles, fried rice dishes or even just as a starter
Nutrition
FAQ
Chicken Manchurian is a tasty Indo-Chinese restaurant-style side dish or starter dish. It is usually made with fried chickens that are stir-fried along with Chinese sauces. The ingredients and cooking methods are the combinations of Indian and Chinese Manchu cuisine, and hence it is popularized as Indo-Chinese food across the world.
The ingredients for making chicken Manchurian are boneless chicken pieces, garlic, bell peppers, chili and powder, corn and all-purpose flour, and sauces like ketchup, soy, and chili garlic sauce.
It is easy to make Chicken Manchurian with keema and all we have to do is to shape the keema into a ball after marinating the chicken with the ingredients mentioned in the recipe card above. And then it is fried until it turns golden in color. But the remaining procedure remains the same as shared in this post.
To make chicken Manchurian, all we need is ketchup, soy, and garlic chili sauce that gives a tangy, spicy, and sweet taste to this dish.
I really hope you enjoyed the recipe that I have shared here and I would love to hear from you on how it turned out for you. Please let me know.
If you have any other questions, feel free to post them in the comment section below and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Happy Cooking!
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