December 4, 2021

Chicken Jalfrezi (Desi Chinese Style)

Chicken breast chunks and bell peppers cooked in a special Indian Chinese style sauce.

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Cook Time 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese, fusion, Indian

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

Sauce:

1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 dry red chili (soaked in water)
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp cooking oil

Chicken:

1.5 lbs chicken breasts, cubed (medium sized)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cooking oil

Vegetables:

1 cup cubed onion
1 cup cubed green pepper
1 cup cubed red pepper

Garnish

3-4 green chilies, slit
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Sauce:

Heat oil and sauté the onion, ginger, and garlic until golden.
Transfer to a blender and add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Add a splash of water if the mixture is too thick to blend. Test spiciness level and add another dry red chili if you prefer more heat.

Chicken & Vegetables:

Toss the chicken with salt, black pepper, and cornstarch. In the same pan used to start off the sauce, heat oil. Sauté the chicken on high heat for 5-7 minutes until browned, then lower the temperature and cook another 10 minutes or so, until the chicken is almost completely cooked through.
Add cubed onion, green pepper, and red pepper and stir fry with the chicken for about 5 minutes.
Pour in the sauce from the blender and cook covered until the sauce comes to a boil.
Add green chilies and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve hot with rice or roti.

Notes

When you blend together the sauce, do a taste test at this point to adjust to your preference. More dry red chili for more spiciness, more sugar for more sweetness, more vinegar/tomatoes for more tartness, or more soy sauce for more saltiness/umami.

Keyword chicken, chicken jalfrezi, desi chinese, fusion, indian chinese

What is Jalfrezi?

Jalfrezi is a Bengali/Indian curry that is distinct from other curries because of its thick, dry, tomato-based gravy. It was influenced by the Chinese cooking technique of stir frying, so this dish comes together faster than a typical South Asian braised curry. Jalfrezi curry can be made with various proteins like chicken, paneer, fish, or even just vegetables.

What Makes This Recipe Different?

If you search for Chicken Jalfrezi recipes online, most of the recipes you find will call for traditional South Asian spices like garam masala and cumin. This recipe does not use South Asian spices, instead relying on a unique blend of Chinese ingredients and other aromatics to create a delicious, robust sauce. It is SO GOOD.

I believe that the key to this delicious sauce is the base of sautéed onion, garlic, and ginger. Use this technique whenever you want to take your sauce/gravy to the next level. Browning the chopped onion/garlic/ginger in oil first releases their flavors to their peak potentials. And then blending them with soy sauce (umami notes), vinegar and tomatoes (tanginess), dry red chilies (heat), black pepper (earthiness) and a pinch of sugar (sweetness) just creates the most wonderful explosion of flavors.

A Family Specialty

This recipe was passed down to me from my mom, as so many of my Bengali recipes are. This version of Chicken Jalfrezi is something she makes often when company comes over for a “dawat”, and I have started to do the same. The spicy, tangy curry is a refreshing change from the typical chicken korma or roast you usually see on a dawat table. We always get compliments when we make this dish because it is so unique!

The Steps, in a Nutshell

You start off by making the sauce. Sautéed onions, garlic, and ginger gets blended together with other flavorful ingredients to create a thick sauce (doesn’t need to be super smooth). Separately, the cubed chicken gets stir fried, along with the veggies. Then the sauce is poured in and they all become one happy family. Finishing off with slit green chilies and cilantro, this dish perfect to serve with rice or roti.

Can You Use Different Cuts of Chicken?

Yes, you can. But if you do this, factor in the time it will take to cook those cuts. Breasts cook faster than dark meat, so it’s a good choice if you’re looking for a quick meal. Also, if you use bigger pieces like legs and thighs, I would suggest pouring in the sauce as soon as the chicken is browned and letting it cook thoroughly while simmering in the sauce for maximum flavor. Then for the veggies, you would have to sauté them separately and add them at the end. This way, they get a change to get slightly browned but not get mushy by being in the sauce for too long. The veggies should be tender crisp.