Dragon Chicken

I got this recipe from a cookery book. I haven’t tasted any dragon chicken before but somehow the name sounds so familiar to me. Hence I decided to try this and it turned out pretty decent. I think its more like an Indo Chinese dish. However if you know anything more about this, please do share. It seems this is one of the popular items in the menu of Mango Tree restaurant owned by Malayalam film star Dileep. That restaurant was originally the house of famous Malayalam singer Yesudas and there is a mango tree planted by his mom, hence the same name for the restaurant too. This restaurant is in Fort Cochin. Though I’m from Cochin, I haven’t been to Fort Cochin in a long time, it’s quite far from our place. Anyways, I’ve already made the list of things to do in my next India trip and a visit to Fort Cochin and various restaurants there occupies a prime place :).

Btw, have any of you been to this restaurant? Or if you know any other good restaurants in that area which I should check out, please do let me know. Coming back to the Dragon Chicken, this recipe is shared by the chef of Mango Tree. I wanted to add some cashew also (it’s not there in the original recipe), but I forgot. May be next time.You can serve this dish as a starter/appetizer or as a side dish. It’s actually good for just munching too. I just couldn’t stop munching this while taking the snaps ;)

One more thing I dont have any clue how the Dragon chicken looks like (the picture wasn’t there). Anyways may be when I visit there I can see it and also taste it first hand. Jose are you reading this ;)?

Here is the recipe:

1. Boneless chicken – 250 gm, cut into thin strips or cubes
2. Plain flour (maida) – 1/3 cup
   Cornflour – 1/3 cup
   Egg white – of 1 egg
   Pepper powder – 1/4 – 1/2 tsp
   Soya sauce – 1/4 tsp
   Water – 1/3 cup + extra (if required)
   Salt
3. Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp ( chopped)
4. Ginger & garlic paste – 1 1/2 tsp each
5. Celery – 2 tsp, chopped finely
6. Leeks – 2tsp, chopped finely (I didn’t use it)
   Dry red chilly – 3, slit lengthwise
7. Capsicum – 1 , sliced finely
   Onion – 1, sliced finely
8. Carrot – 1, sliced finely like matchsticks
9. Kashmiri chilly powder – 1 – 1 1/2 tsp
   Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp
   Soya sauce – 2 tsp
10. Salt
    Oil

Make a medium thick batter with number 2 ingredients. Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces in this batter and keep aside for 10 mins. Shallow fry the chicken pieces till it turns golden brown. Keep the chicken pieces aside. In the same pan (remove excess oil, if any) add the cashew pieces and fry it till it turns brown. Keep it aside. Add the ginger & garlic paste. Fry it for a minute, add celery, leeks and dry chillies. Saute it for 2-3 minutes. Add capsicum, onion and salt. Cook till onions and capsicum becomes soft. Combine Kashmiri chilly powder, tomato & soya sauce and add this to the curry. Mix well and add around 1/8 cup of water at this stage. When the gravy boils, add fried cashews, chicken & carrots. Mix well. Cover and cook till the carrots are done. Serve hot.

Notes: Water is not added in the original recipe, since I like the chicken to be coated well, I added. Same with the cashew too, cashew is not added as per the original recipe, its optional. Also the vegetarians can try this recipe with cauliflower, paneer, tofu etc.

Source: Vanitha Pachakam

• Meat Rolls
• Prawns/Shrimp Crackers
• Lemon Drizzle Cake
• Spicy Chicken Korma

MariasMenu is a popular food blog written by Maria Jose with its no nonsense simple, tasty and delicious recipes – all tried and tested by readers, family and friends alike. Read more about Maria and her venture.