Dragon Chicken is a spicy marinated chicken that is fried and then sautéed with cashew nuts and colorful peppers. It is served as a starter or as a side dish for fried rice or noodles.

“Nothing too fancy about it, eh! Although, one should note that this a VERY popular dish in India and falls under the Indian-Chinese cuisine.

However, being the curious person I am, I ventured into finding out the orgin of this dish. There are references to a Vietnamese chicken breed called “dong tao chicken” and I think someone made an item with this dish and called in Dragon chicken. I don’t think this recipe is that. If someone knows about its origin please let me know.” - Haritha

• Course: Appetizer Snack
  
• Cuisine: Indian-Chineese
• Preperation Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Servings: 4

Overview

Dragon chicken is s 2-step process. It involves: * Frying the chicken * Preparing the dragon sauce

How to make Red chilli paste at home?

To make a red chilli paste, soak 12-15 dry chilies in hot water for 15 minutes and Grind the soaked red chilies to a smooth paste(if needed you can add very little water) . While grinding you can add some salt and vinegar so that it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Ingredients

For Fried Chicken

• 500 grams boneless chicken strips (breast or thigh)
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp red chilli paste
• ¹⁄₂ tsp black pepper powder
• 2 Tbsp cornflour
• 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour (Maida)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• Cooking oil for deep frying

For Sauce

• 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 small onion cubed
• 1 small green bell pepper cubed
• ¹⁄₂ small red bell pepper cubed
• ¹⁄₂ small yellow bell pepper cubed
• ¹⁄₂ small orange bell pepper cubed
• 1 Tbsp red chilli paste*
• ¹⁄₄ cup tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ tsp sugar
• ¹⁄₂ tsp black pepper powder

For Garnishing

• ¹⁄₄ Cup cashew nuts(fried)
• 3 to 4 dry red chilies (fried)

Instructions

• In a pan, heat a table spoon of cooking oil and fry cashew nuts and dry red chilies for 1 minute separately and keep it aside.

Step 1 Frying Chicken

• Mix all the ingredients of fried chicken process (describe above) and then deep fry the chicken on a medium flame for 5-minutes and keep it aside.

Step 2 For Sauce

• On a medium-high flame, heat oil in a pan/wok and fry chopped garlic and chopped ginger till light brown.
• Add cubed onion pieces and fry till little soft then add cubed colored bell peppers.
• Fry for few seconds and then add 2 tablespoons of red chilli paste, tomato ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, along with salt and pepper.
• Cook for a minute until the sauce cook together.
• Now add fried chicken pieces to the sauce and cook on high heat for a minute or so.
• Garnish with fried cashews, red chilies and chopped spring onion and serve hot.

Recipe Notes

• For chicken you can use either thigh meat/breast meat. Cut into thin strips as shown in video.
• Crispy cashews elevates the taste of this dish, so add a good amount of it.
• You can substitute chicken with fish.
• To make a veg version – you can substitute with baby corn, paneer, or cubed potato.
• You can use store-bought red chilli paste too but just in case if you want to make your own fresh chilli paste that doesnt take much time then try this

How to make homemade Red chilli paste?

Soak 12-15 dry chilies in hot water for 15 minutes and Grind the soaked red chilies to a smooth paste (if needed you can add very little water). While grinding you can add some salt and vinegar so that it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.