Recipe: Chicken Manchurian

Eat in tonight and indulge yourself with this simple recipe for Chicken Manchurian. It’s Chinese food at its best!

 



Method

•  Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and apply it to the chicken cubes.

•  Fry the marinated chicken until it becomes golden-brown in colour. Drain the chicken with a slotted spoon and place it on an absorbent paper for a little while.

•  In a separate frying pan, add oil and garlic and fry it on a high flame for about 30 seconds.

•  Add the ginger and green chillies to the pan and fry for a few seconds.

•  Add the spring onions and capsicums and fry for three minutes.

•  Pour in the soya sauce, tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and vinegar, followed by brown sugar.

•  Mix all the ingredients well and cook for about two minutes.

•  Add ¼ cup of chicken stock or water into the mixture and cook for one minute.

•  Pour in the sesame oil.

•  Add the cooked chicken and cook it for at least five minutes.

•  Adjust salt if necessary.

•  Mix cornflour with water and add it to the curry to thicken the paste. Your Manchurian is now ready!

Simple tips for better homemade chinese food



•  Did you know that the type of rice you choose can affect how your dish turns out? Many cooks around the world prefer long-grain rice when cooking Chinese food as it is much more fragrant than short-grain rice and also looks better. Long-grain rice takes slightly more time to cook but you are free from the risk of your rice being too sticky at the end. In fact, according to some chefs, cooking Chinese rice a day prior to when it has to be served enhances its flavour.

•  Making a meat-and-veggie stir fry? No worries! Just remember to fry the meat first and put it aside before cooking the vegetables. This will make the meat tender and add more flavour to the vegetables.  It is important to know the exact frying time needed by each of the vegetables you are using. Leafy vegetables cook the fastest so it is advisable to add them last. Solid vegetables like carrots, cabbage and broccoli should be cooked first.

•  An easy way to gauge the temperature of oil in your wok is to stick a chopstick into it. If the oil sizzles, it is hot enough for you to toss the ingredients in.

•  Soya sauce — a key ingredient in most Chinese dishes — should be added by the cook and not the diners. By nature, Chinese food is already fairly salty and pouring soya sauce can distort the flavours further. Try to avoid adding the sauce separately unless it is used as a dip for bread or dumplings.

Homemade mustard past!



If you are a health-conscious cook, you will want to keep your Manchurian as organic as possible. Avoid packaged, grocery-store items and try this simple recipe for homemade mustard paste. The aromatic flavour of mustard seeds will liven your Manchurian up!

Ingredients

•  Black mustard seeds 1 tbsp

•  Yellow mustard seeds  1 tbsp

•  Green chilies 2

•  Sugar 1 tsp

•  Water 1 and 1/2 cups

•  Salt to taste

Method

Add the ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix them into a paste. Note that the temperature of the water determines how spicy the mustard paste turns out. If you prefer a hot flavour, use cold water and vice versa.

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, November 2^nd, 2014.