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Garlic Chicken

Simple ingredients, an honest plate of food – this garlic chicken is finger-licking good! This is the sort of food that will be a sure-shot party hit!

Succulent chunks of chicken coated in a sticky base of flavours – it is all subtle, yet finely balanced with a lot of garlic (without overdoing it), a dash of vinegar, a pinch of sugar, a hint of chillies. You want to go back to that plate again and again!

How often do you come across a great tasting plate of food that is easy to cook, without resorting to deep-frying in oil? Do you have a ‘comfort food’ that doesn’t guilt trip you later? This garlic chicken is one such recipe.

Bite size pieces of chicken marinated with crushed garlic, dry chillies, vinegar, and salt; cooked with onion and tomatoes, and finished off with green chillies for an extra kick; this is a wonderfully balanced blend of flavours. It has got a little bit of everything – a nice heat from the chillies, tangy sweetness from the onion-tomato paste, and a subtle hint of vinegar. Add some freshly chopped spring onions (this is optional) and you have one more flavour to complete this delicious chicken dish.

About this garlic chicken

Succulent, flavourful garlic chicken
Succulent, flavourful garlic chicken

Cooking this recipe will not take much time, but the marination does require time. You can skip it if you are in a rush, but for best results, let time do its magic!

I usually recommend serving piping hot straight from the stove. With this garlic chicken, we have observed at home that it is ideal to let it sit for a couple of hours (or even more). That will give the sticky, sauce-like base to incorporate the wonderful flavours to the chicken.

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5 from 2 votes

Garlic Chicken

Bite size pieces of chicken marinated with crushed garlic, dry chillies, salt and vinegar; cooked with onion and tomatoes, and finished off with green chillies for an extra kick; this is a wonderfully balanced blend of flavours. Simple ingredients, honest plate of food - this is finger-lickin' good! This is the sort of food that's a sure shot party hit!
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Marination30 mins
Total Time1 hr 20 mins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 4 helping

Ingredients

  • 500 grams chicken small pieces
  • 3 tablespoons garlic finely chopped
  • 2 medium onions finely chopped
  • 1 small tomato finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon crushed dry chillies
  • 2 green chillies thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • to taste salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • spring onions optional

Instructions

  • Finely chop onions, tomato, and garlic.
  • Lightly crush the garlic. Marinate the chicken pieces with the crushed dry chillies, vinegar, garlic and salt.
  • Mix well, and let it sit for an hour. You can skip the marination, but to get all the great flavours of garlic, you SHOULD marinate.
  • Heat some oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add chopped onions and cook on a medium flame while stirring occasionally.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Sauteing onions
  • Sweat the onions till they are tender and cooked well. When the onions start turning brown, add the chopped tomatoes, and cook further.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Adding chopped tomato
  • Cook on a low flame till the onion and tomato mix reach a thick paste like consistency. Add salt, sugar, and 3 tablespoons of water.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Adding salt, sugar, and water
  • Combine well. Switch off when the water start to disappear.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Cooking till the water disappears
  • Transfer the contents to a bowl.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Onion-tomato mix transferred to a bowl
  • Use the same pan, add a little oil, and braise the marinated chicken on a high flame.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Flash-frying the chicken in the same pan
  • Stir occasionally and fry for a couple of minutes. Lower the flame, and cook with the lid closed for about 10 minutes.
  • Open the lid, add the onion-tomato paste back to the pan, mix well, and cook on a low flame.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Onion-tomato mix added to the chicken
  • Add salt if required. Cook till chicken pieces is evenly coated. Add the chopped green chillies, and a tablespoon of finely chopped spring onions.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Adding green chillies and spring onions
  • Combine well. Cook for a couple of minutes, and switch off.
    Garlic Chicken Steps - Combine well before switching off the stove
  • Garnish with spring onions, and serve hot.
  • You can enjoy this garlic chicken on its own, or with some fragrant rice.
  • Recommendation: For best results, serve 4-5 hours after cooking. This will help the flavours to develop further. Heat it up in a pan just before serving.

10 Comments

  1. smple bt nt spcl

  2. 5 stars
    It tasted yum!

  3. Meftab Ara Rahman.

    5 stars
    It’s a very good and delicious recipe. And also easy to prepare. I like to cook it.

  4. Swetlima Kashyap

    The recipe shared is really good n easy to make. It tastes just perfect. Thanx for a wonderful recipe

    • The Take It Easy Chef

      Hi Swetlima, I am delighted to hear that! Thank you for trying out my recipe. 🙂

  5. KARTHIKEYAN Gandhirajan

    Garlic chicken is really good,and chicken tastes good of taken after 4 hours,
    If you know the secret of cake like eating experience (eating chicken) ie _the tenderness of it without going rubbery please share it.I based on the first experience I am confident of trying the honey chicken.thank you.

    • The Take It Easy Chef

      Thank you very much Karthikeyan. For a good texture, you should not overcook the chicken. Patience is also the key 🙂
      If you cook on a high heat/flame, the outside gets cooked fast. It’ll still take time for the inside to get cooked, and while you wait for that to happen, the outside will end up overcooked and dry. I hope this helps.

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