This chicken Manchurian recipe combines the characteristic flavors of Indian and Chinese cuisine into a nutritious, lip-smacking meal. You'll have crunchy fried vegetables and juicy chicken pieces flavored with a savory-sweet gravy piling on hot rice. Ready in 35 minutes of pan-frying with no master cooking skills required!
What Is Manchurian?
Chicken Manchurian is an Indo-Chinese delicacy. It consists of juicy fried chicken pieces and vegetables tossed in a savory-sweet sauce, served with white rice or noodles.
As chicken Manchurian adapts the characteristics from both Indian and Chinese cuisine, you'll find the overall flavor to be not too sweet nor too salty, but an amiable fusion of both tastes.
What Is the Difference Between Chicken Shashlik and Chicken Manchurian?
Chicken shashlik and chicken Manchurian share a pretty similar Indo-Chinese flavor profile, but their cooking methods are different. Chicken Manchurian is made by coating the chicken in batter and then deep-frying it, while chicken shashlik is a stir-fried dish.
Is Chicken Manchurian Healthy?
Yes, it is.
Our chicken Manchurian recipe calls for skinless, boneless chicken breast as the main ingredient. In addition to being a go-to source of protein, chicken is also packed with important nutrients such as selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B6, and niacin. The breasts, in particular, are lean and low-fat, which is considered to be a healthier alternative to other types of meat.
Served alongside the chicken are bell peppers, which can also provide you with a good amount of vitamins and minerals, as well as other beneficial plant compounds.
Additionally, we made sure to keep the overall amounts of calories, sodium, and saturated fat in check, so each serving is kept within healthy limits while also offering great flavors.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Chicken
We use skinless, boneless chicken breast and shred it into thin strips. You can also use the thighs for a more flavorful cut, but we recommend also using boneless ones for ease of preparation.
- The batter
We use a seasoning mix of cornstarch, garlic, pepper, flour, salt, paprika, and white egg to create a batter for the shredded chicken. This batter will then be formed into meatballs and deep-fried in canola oil. The addition of cornstarch and flour in the chicken batter gives it a velvety, rather than crispy, texture.
- The sauce
For the Manchurian sauce, we whisk cornstarch, sesame oil, brown sugar, chicken broth, oyster sauce, ketchup, and soy sauce together. This creates a luscious, hearty mixture that bursts with vibrant flavors with each bite.
What To Serve With this Dish
As our chicken Manchurian is served alongside cooked white rice, it can make quite a nutritious meal as-is. All you need left is a light side dish, like this cozy, steaming hot cabbage soup or fresh yet umami-laden Asian cucumber salad to have a comforting homemade meal on the dining table.
How To Store and Reheat
Chicken Manchurian is best served hot or at least within the day of cooking. That being said, the leftovers can still be refrigerated in airtight containers for up to 3 days, although there will be a risk of soggy chicken.
Leftover chicken Manchurian can be reheated either in the microwave, in the oven, in the air fryer, or on the stovetop. You might also need to add a few tablespoons of chicken broth or any cooking liquid of your choice to thin out the sauce a bit.
How to Make Chicken Manchurian
This chicken Manchurian recipe combines the characteristic flavors of Indian and Chinese cuisine into a nutritious, lip-smacking meal. You'll have crunchy fried vegetables and juicy chicken pieces flavored with a savory-sweet gravy piling on hot rice. Ready in 35 minutes of pan-frying with no master cooking skills required!
- cook TIME 35 mins
- prep TIME 5 mins
- total TIME 40 mins
- COURSE Main dish
- CUISINE Indian, Chinese
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 507 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 16 oz skinless boneless chicken thighs (chopped)
- 4 oz red bell pepper (coarsely diced)
- 4 oz yellow bell pepper (coarsely diced)
- 4 oz onion (diced)
- 2 tbsp scallion (chopped)
- 1 tsp ginger (grated)
- 1 tbsp garlic (minced, divided to 1 tsp and 2 tsp)
- 1 large white egg
- 1/4 cup unsalted chicken broth
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (divided (1 tbsp for chicken))
- 8 tbsp canola oil (divided (1 tbsp sautéd) *)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp Heinz's Ketchup
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 cups cooked medium-grain rice ((from around 1 1/2 cups uncooked))
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the sauce: In a bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 cup unsalted chicken broth, 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce, 3 tbsp Heinz's Ketchup, and 1/2 tbsp soy sauce until well combined. Set aside.
Place 16 oz chicken thighs in a high-powered blender. Process on low and increase the speed gradually until shredded.
Remove the shredded chicken to a mixing bowl.
Combine the shredded chicken with 1 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp ground pepper, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1 large white egg. Form the shredded chicken mixture into small scoops.
In a skillet, heat 7 tbsp canola oil over medium heat. Deep-fry the chicken balls in batches (about 7 minutes). Remove to a clean plate lined with a paper towel to drain the oil.
Add 1 tbsp canola oil to the skillet. Sauté 1 tsp garlic and 1 tsp ginger for 30 seconds.
Add 4 oz red bell pepper, 4 oz yellow bell pepper, and 4 oz onion. Sauté for 3 minutes.
Return the fried chicken to the skillet.
Add the sauce. Turn the heat down to low and stir occasionally for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat. Garnish with 2 tbsp scallion and serve hot with 3 cups of cooked medium-grain rice.
(*) Only part of this ingredient will end up in the final product and we have calculated nutritional values based on that amount. The whole amount is needed for the coating and cooking process, but what actually ends up being consumed is 2 tablespoon of canola oil.
NUTRITION
Luna Regina
Writer, Author