Chicken Manchurian

I love quick meals that come together easily on busy nights. I also have days where I have so much work, or prior commitments which means I cannot be in two places at once. This meal comes together in 15 minutes and at the same time as I prep this, I have the egg fried rice on other stove.

Technically Chicken Manchurian is not authentic Chinese food. It's an Indochinese dish. The sweet and sour sauce with crunchy vegetables, makes a perfect meal. I'll usually serve this meal with vegetable spring rolls, just to tie the meal together.

Preparation time 5 minutes

Cook time 15 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients

500 grams chicken breasts- cut into 2 inch cubes

Salt- to taste

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon soya sauce

1 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ginger paste

1/2 teaspoon garlic paste

Coating

1 egg

4 Tablespoons cornflour

1 Tablespoons flour

Manchurian sauce

2 cloves garlic- minced

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon soya sauce

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

1 cup tomato ketchup

4 Tablespoons corn flour

1/4 cup water

1 green pepper- deseeded and cut into chunks

1/2 onion- peeled and cut into chunks

Garnish

1 stalk green onion- just the greens- chopped

1 teaspoon sesame seeds- toasted.

Instructions

1. Combine the chicken, salt, black pepper, white pepper, soya sauce, vinegar, ginger paste and garlic paste. Set aside for 10- 15 minutes

2. In the meantime, place a large pan on the stove and heat the oil on a medium heat, until 180 degrees celsius.

3. Add the egg, 4 tablespoons cornflour and 1 tablespoon flour into the chicken. Mix thoroughly until well combined.

4. Drop each piece of chicken into the oil separately so they don't stick together. fry until golden brown.

5. Remove from the oil and place on kitchen towel to remove excess oil. This will keep the chicken crispy.

6. Make the cornflour slurry: Combine the 1/4 cup cold water with the 4 Tablespoons cornflour. Mix until no lumps remain. Set aside.

7. Prepare the Manchurian sauce: fry the garlic in 2 tabelsppins oil, until fragrant (1 minute). Add the ketchup and mix well to prevent the garlic from burning. then add the sugar, chicken stock, vinegar, soya sauce, oyster sauce. Give it a good mix.

8. Pour the cornflour slurry into the sauce, all the while mixing to make sure lumps don't form.

9. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.

10. Add the chicken to the sauce. Add the green pepper and onion chunks.

11. Cook on low heat for 5- 10 minutes.

12. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion before serving

13. Serve with egg fried rice