By Jehan Yusoof  |  Updated September 15, 2026  |  ★ 0 reviews  |  0 Comments

Chilli chicken is a popular Indo-Chinese recipe with batter-fried chicken smothered in a sauce with sweet and spicy sauce. It’s so easy to make, and with a little prep work, you can have a platter of chilli chicken ready in no time.

If you try this, I’d love to know how it turned out; a quick rating or comment really helps other readers decide what to cook.

Indo-Chinese chilli chicken recipe.

Imagine biting into these small bites of batter-fried chicken, crispy on the outside and still tender and juicy inside.
The boneless batter-fried chicken tastes wonderful when mixed in this spicy, thick sauce.
The spicy sauce includes ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and chilli sauce among other ingredients, giving the Chinese-style chicken appetiser its addictive flavours.
The Indo-Chinese cooking style used to make the chilli chicken stir-fry helps to bring out the best of the ingredients you use.
Marinating and batter-frying the chicken cubes and then mixing them with a sauce adds flavour upon flavour to this dish.

Ingredients to cook chilli chicken

• To marinate the chicken.
  • Boneless chicken cubes are cut into small cubes.
  • Kashmiri chilli powder(substitute with red chilli powder or paprika).
  • Ginger-garlic paste.
  • White vinegar(any type of vinegar except apple cider vinegar).
  • Salt to season.
  • Black pepper powder.
  • Regular flour.
  • Cornflour.
  • water.
  • Oil to deep-fry the chicken.
• To make the chilli chicken sauce
  • Oil.
  • Green chillies, split in the middle.
  • Garlic, sliced fine.
  • Ginger, sliced thin.
  • Large onion.
  • Green chilli.
  • Hot sauce(any type of hot sauce would do).
  • Tomato ketchup.
  • Soy sauce.
  • Sugar.
  • Red chilli powder(if you are worried about the spiciness of this dish, you can omit it).
  • Red bell pepper(optional).
  • Green pepper(optional)

Tips and suggestions to cook the best chilli chicken.

• Having all your ingredients and utensils ready eases your cooking flow.
• You’ll notice that there are a lot of ingredients that increase the spiciness of the dish; adjust them as you see fit.
• When serving kids, replace the hot sauces with mild or sweeter sauces.
• The green chillies can be replaced with bell peppers.
• Cut the chicken cubes into smaller pieces. When they are coated in batter, they do increase in size.
• You can double the amount of the wet ingredients and make extra chilli chicken gravy or sauce.

What you will need in the kitchen.

• Chopping board and knife.
• Bowls to hold the ingredients.
• A large bowl to coat the chicken in batter.
• Deep-frying pan.
• A platter with paper kitchen towels to soak in the oil.
• Tongs.
• A large pan to assemble the chilli chicken dish.

PHOTO TUTORIAL

How to cook chilli chicken.

Marinating the chicken cubes.

If you purchased 700g of boneless chicken breast, cut them into 1″ cubes or purchase pre-cut chicken cubes. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the chicken cubes and Kashmiri chilli powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, and pepper powder.

Combine well and leave to marinate for 15 minutes.
Mix the cornflour and flour with water until smooth.
Pour into the marinating chicken and set aside for a further 10 minutes.

Deep-fry the chicken cubes.

Add oil to a deep pan and heat for 1-2 minutes over low-medium heat.
Gently drop a little marinating batter into the oil; if it sizzles and rises, the oil is ready to fry the chicken cubes.
Deep fry the chicken cubes in small batches. If you fry them in a small pan and drop too many pieces of the battered chicken, they will stick together. Small batches, dropped a little distance from each piece, will avoid this.
Fry them for 7-9 minutes, gently turning them so they turn golden and fry evenly.
Place them on the plate with paper kitchen towels.

Once you’ve fried the chicken cubes, set them aside and move on to making the chilli chicken sauce(gravy)

Making the chilli chicken sauce.

Place a large flat frying pan over low to medium heat and pour in the oil.
Once the oil heats, add the sliced garlic and ginger. Cook until the edges turn golden

Add the onions and green chillies.

You can also add bell peppers, but I’ve not added them here.
Add the hot sauce, tomato ketchup, soy sauce, and sugar. Cook for 1-2 minutes over low to medium heat.

Taste and season with salt and pepper if you need to increase the heat of the sauce.

Add the batter-fried chicken to the chilli chicken sauce.

Combine well and serve warm to retain the crispiness of the batter-fried chicken.

What to serve with chilli chicken.

• Here are a few rice recipes to serve the chilli chicken with.
  • Easy lemon rice recipe.
  • Serve with a bowl of plain, steaming white rice. Here’s how to cook rice on the stove.
  • Sri Lankan Yellow Rice(turmeric rice)
  • vegetable fried rice(spicy).
  • Mixed fried rice.
• You can also serve the dry chilli chicken with garlic naan or paratha.
• You can even stuff spoonfuls of this chilli chicken into buns or wraps.

More recipes like chilli chicken.

Gobi Manchurian(cauliflower Manchurian)
Chicken 65
Sri Lankan deviled chicken
Hot butter cuttlefish
Deep-fried hot butter mushroom

Storage, Freezing and Reheating guide.

• Storing in the refrigerator.
  • Can be stored in airtight containers.
• Freezing.
  • Avoid freezing; refrigerate and consume within 2 days.
• Stop food waste.
  • Add it to a bowl of leftover rice and make quick fried rice.

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Crispy Chilli chicken dry(Indo-Chinese recipe)

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Chilli chicken is a popular Indo-Chinese recipe with batter-fried chicken smothered in a sauce with sweet and spicy sauce.

It’s so easy to make, and with a little prep work, you can have a platter of chilli chicken ready in no time.

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Ingredients

To make the chilli chicken sauce

Toggle ingredient group

• 3 tablespoons of oil
• 3 green chilies split in the middle
• 5 cloves of garlic sliced fine
• 1″ ginger sliced thin
• 1 large onion sliced fine
• 2 green chillies split
• 2 tablespoons of hot sauce(any type of hot sauce would do)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder(if you are worried about the spiciness of this dish you can omit it)
• 1 red bell pepper diced(optional)
• 1 green pepper diced(optional)

To marinate the chicken

Toggle ingredient group

• 500g of boneless chicken cubes cut into small cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon of Kashmiri chilli powder(substitute with red chilli powder or paprika)
• 1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste(make your own by simply mincing 3 cloves of garlic and 2″ ginger pieces together)
• 2 tablespoons of white vinegar(any type of vinegar except apple cider vinegar)
• Salt to season
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 3 tablespoons of regular flour
• 3 tablespoons of cornflour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup of oil to deep fry the chicken cubes

Instructions

How to marinate the chicken cubes for chilli chicken.

1. If you purchased 500g of boneless chicken breast, cut them to 1″ cubes or purchase pre-cut chicken cubes. Set aside.
2. Into a large bowl, add the chicken cubes and Kashmiri chilli powder(substitute with regular red chilli powder or paprika).
3. Salt to season, ginger-garlic paste(make your own by simply mincing 3 cloves of garlic and 2″ ginger pieces together), vinegar(any type of vinegar except apple cider), pepper powder.
4. Combine well and leave to marinate for 15 minutes.
5. Mix the cornflour and flour with 4 tablespoons of water until smooth.
6. Pour into the marinating chicken and set aside for a further 10 minutes.

How to deep-fry the chicken cubes.

1. Add oil to a deep pan, heat the oil for 1-2 minutes over low-medium heat, and gently drop a little marinating batter into the oil; if it sizzles and rises, the oil is ready to deep-fry the chicken cubes.
2. Deep-fry the chicken cubes in small batches,
3. Fry them for 7-9 minutes, gently turning them so they turn golden and fry evenly. Place them on the plate with paper kitchen towels.
4. Once you’ve fried the chicken cubes, set them aside and move on to making the chilli chicken sauce(gravy)

How to prepare the chilli chicken sauce(gravy).

1. Place a large flat frying pan over low-medium heat and pour in the oil.
2. Once the oil heats, add the sliced garlic(5 cloves sliced) and ginger(1″ sliced).

1. Cook until the edges turn golden.
2. Then add sliced onions and the split green chillies.
3. You can also add bell peppers but I’ve not added them here.
4. Add the hot sauce, tomato ketchup, soy sauce and sugar.
5. Cook for 1-2 minutes over low-medium heat.
6. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you need to increase the heat of the sauce.
7. Add the batter-fried chicken into the chilli chicken sauce.
8. Combine well and serve warm to retain the crispiness of the batter-fried chicken.
   I'd love to know how it turned out.
   Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and a comment; I read every one — it helps other visitors trust the recipe and helps them find me too.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1168Total Fat: 89gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 74gCholesterol: 154mgSodium: 1171mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 6gSugar: 13gProtein: 52g

Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JEHAN
Recipe creator. Food Blogger. Video creator
I’ve been cooking and sharing Sri Lankan recipes, along with other dishes I love making at home on Island Smile since 2015. I’ve tested every recipe on this site more than once in my own kitchen before it goes on the blog.
I grew up eating this food, and I still cook it the same way my family taught me, just written down clearly enough that you can follow it too.
If a recipe doesn’t work the way I say it will, tell me in the comments; I read every one, and I’ll help you fix it.