Szechuan Chicken

2014 was a fairly good year for me and I entered the New Year with a lot of positive thoughts swimming through my smart and pretty head. And one among them was that I would loose the few extra kgs that had tormented me all through the past year. So determined was I that I even briefly wondered whether I should go to bed in my workout clothes on New Year’s Eve, so I could head straight to the gym when the sun came up. OK, I might be exaggerating, I couldn’t possibly have gone to the gym before drinking my glass of warm water with lemon and honey, followed by green tea and few more glasses of water which were all to be part of my new diet plan.

Anyway, 2015 dawned cold and wet after the surprise showers all through the night. How warm and comfortable the bed felt! I could’ve spent an eternity in its cozy embrace. I somehow managed to pull myself out of bed and was greeted with the warm, sweet scent of tea infused with cardamom.

“Hope, you are having breakfast. I made puttu and kadala curry”, my mom announced.

I opened my mouth to say a strong ‘No’. But someone took over my voice, and responded in affirmative. The same someone forced me to pick up the cup of tea and refused to acknowledge my pleas of “You need to be drinking green tea”. I tried fighting the someone, but I was weak…Also, the sky was overcast…And it was a Thursday. Whoever heard of going to the gym so close to the weekend? I gave in.

Monday, that would be when I started working out, I decided. And I happily stuffed myself with whatever came my way during the few days in between. Monday came but the chocolate cake I had baked wasn’t over yet. Plus, my son said he would feel bored if I went off to the gym and requested me to postpone. I couldn’t refuse him, could I, I mean, he’s quite cute.

Tuesday is here. Isn’t Tuesday a bad day to start things as per Hindu beliefs? I am not a Hindu, but I shouldn’t risk it, should I? Plus, there is this really yummy chicken recipe I want to try and blog about today.

Tomorrow, that’s when I start exercising. My school always re opened on Wednesdays, and I have a really good feeling about this. So till then, I’ll enjoy this absolutely delicious Szechuan Chicken…

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• Servings: 6-serving
• Time: 30 mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

2014 was a fairly good year for me and I entered the New Year with a lot of positive thoughts swimming through my smart and pretty head. And one among them was that I would loose the few extra kgs that had tormented me all through the past year. So determined was I that I even briefly wondered whet

Summary

• Cuisine: chinese
• Course: appetizer
• Cooking Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

To deep fry chicken

strips , 600 chicken breast , cut into long grams

Sunflower Oil , to deep fry

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp soy sauce

1 egg

To taste, salt

3 tablespoons cornflour

1 tablespoon plain flour

For sauce

3 tablespoons spring onion greens , chopped ,

3 tablespoons chopped garlic ,

1 green chili , chopped

5 dried whole red chilies ,

5 dried red chilies each broken into pieces ,

1 onion , chopped

2 tablespoons chili sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tsp vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

to taste salt ,

Steps

1. To deep fry chicken
2. Mix together all ingredients to deep fry chicken except chicken and oil. Add chicken pieces and mix well with hands so the chicken strips are coated well with the marinade. Let it rest for fifteen minutes.
3. Heat oil in a wok over high flame. Once the oil is hot, lower the flame a bit, add chicken pieces and fry to a crispy golden brown. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and keep aside. (Fry chicken in batches if required.)
4. To make sauce
5. To make the schezwan sauce, soak 5 dried red chilies in hot water for about 15 minutes. Remove stalks, and grind the soaked chilies to a smooth paste.
6. Transfer all the oil in which chicken was fried to a container except for about 3 tablespoons. Saute chopped garlic and spring onion greens in the wok till fragrant. Add green chili and the remaining dried red chili pieces and saute till color starts to change. Toss in chopped onion and saute till translucent. Add one tablespoon of the red chili paste made earlier and fry over a low flame for a couple of minutes. Mix in soy sauce, chili sauce, tomato sauce, vinegar and saute. Season as required. Pour in water and bring to boil. Finally mix in fried chicken strips and sugar and warm through till the sauce is thick and coats the chicken.
7. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

PS: Do you think it will rain tomorrow?