Indo Chinese cuisine is pretty popular in India with the craze first starting sometime in the early 90s I believe. I was in college those days and we would sneak out from college to have lunch at one of these make shift stalls outside our campus to have delicious lip smacking ‘chicken manchurian’ soup and chill chicken curry. The origins of this fusion cuisine is a bit ambiguous I think because the last time I tried to research about ‘manchurian curry’, I only ended up finding out that Manchurian is a historic region in NE china and that there was no curry chicken or otherwise by that name originating from that region. So I decided to end my research. Anyways, I am so glad that this fusion cuisine came into being combining the best of flavors from both the sub-continents even though the ‘how’ of it is not clear. Hey, let’s just enjoy the food right without going crazy trying to solve the mystery? 🙂
I cooked these crispy chicken bites similar to the chili chicken recipe I have posted before. Even though I am following the stricter autoimmune version of paleo which restricts chili peppers and other nightshades, I have been having small quantities of red chili powder and other spices occasionally. But you could easily skip the red chili and these chicken bites would still be delicious I can guarantee.! I also pan fry (shallow fry) these using coconut oil instead of deep frying and they still come out crispy!
- 1 lb chicken pieces, boneless thigh pieces, cut into bite size pieces
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- 1½ tbsp fresh ginger and garlic paste (see below)
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder (omit for AIP)
- 2 tsp coconut aminos or tamari (use coconut aminos for paleo/AIP)
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour/starch
- About 4-6 tbsp coconut oil for shallow frying
- finely chopped scallions for garnish
- 6 large cloves of garlic peeled
- 2 inch by 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Add all ingredients to the smallest jar of a food processor and blend till you get a fine paste. Alternatively use a mortar and pestle to crush to a paste.
- In a large bowl, add the chicken pieces and blot dry using paper towels.
- Add all the rest of the marinade ingredients (except the tapioca starch) on top of the chicken pieces and sprinkle the tapioca starch on top. Now Mix using your hands to coat the chicken pieces completely.
- Add about 2 tbsp oil at a time in a small frying pan/skillet (I prefer stainless steel skillet) and shallow fry the chicken pieces in batches on medium heat until they are cooked well and crispy on both sides(about 3 mins on each side). Drain on paper towels and serve while warm garnishing with scallions!
Looks delicious. Are Quorn meatless pieces AIP compliant?
Hi there! I don’t believe quorn is considered healthy as it can be highly processed. So I wouldn’t recommend that on AIP.
Loved the addition of tapioca starch. Crispy and delicious. Nice share Indu.
Thank you Sumith! Yes they turned out really nice and crispy! My son just saw this post and now he wants me to make these again soon – lol 🙂
Looks really amazing . not for vegans ,but will share the recipes with friends and in social media 🙂
Thank you, for you awesome recipes. 🙂
thank you Erika for your comments and for sharing!. And you are very welcome!