This Chicken Shashlik is a delicious Indo-Chinese recipe made with marinated boneless chicken, green bell pepper, onions, and a deliciously tangy and sweet sauce!
I love to recreate restaurant-style Indo-Chinese recipes at home and here are some more I've made over the years: Chicken Manchurian, Dragon Chicken, Dynamite Shrimp, and Chicken Jalfrezi.
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About Chicken Shashlik
Chicken Shashlik is often served as an appetizer in restaurants. The word shashlik is Russian and is actually a dish of skewered meat. It is also similar to shish kebab. (Source: Wikipedia)
However, it has also evolved into this Indo-Chinese version with a saucy gravy. It is similar to Chicken Manchurian, but there are key differences.
While Chicken Manchurian is made with crispy, battered chicken, Chicken Shashlik is made with marinated chicken.
Chicken Shashlik is also saucier than Chicken Manchurian. The flavor profiles are similar, but the sauce ingredients are different in both. If you're looking for a dry Indo-Chinese recipe, then you must try this Dragon Chicken!
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- No Deep Frying: I don't know about you, but I mostly steer away from deep frying. I mean it has its time and place such as for these Pakoras, but in my day-to-day cooking, I avoid it. While lots of Indo-Chinese recipes call for frying, this one doesn't!
- One Pot Recipe: Well, I used a skillet so technically it's a one-skillet dish. But I love this recipe for the fact that everything is made in just one pot, so there is less cleaning up!
- Customizable Sauce: You can change up the sauce ingredients to your liking. There are several sauces involved in this recipe, so you can substitute or adjust the amounts to your taste preferences.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutes
Chicken Marinade
- Boneless Chicken: You will need boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes. You can also use chicken thighs cut into chunks.
- Soy Sauce: You can use low-sodium soy sauce, dark soy sauce, whichever you have on hand.
- White Vinegar
- Crushed Garlic
- Seasonings: Red chilli powder + salt
For the Sauce
- Tomato Ketchup: This is the key ingredient for the sauce, and the dominant flavor.
- Sriracha: Not traditionally used, but I like the flavor. Instead of this, you can use your favorite hot sauce or chili garlic sauce.
- Soy Sauce + White Vinegar: To add that Indo-Chinese flavor to the sauce.
- Chicken Stock Cube + Water: substitute with 1 cup of chicken stock.
- Sugar: To balance out the tanginess of the sauce.
- Spices: red chilli powder and black pepper.
- Grated ginger and garlic: it's best to use freshly grated ginger and garlic here.
- Cornflour + Water Slurry: To thicken the sauce.
The Vegetables
- Green bell pepper (Capsicum): Cut into large chunks. Can be substituted with yellow or red bell pepper.
- Red Onion: Chop into cubes.
- Tomato: Remove seeds, and cut into cubes.
How to Make Easy Chicken Shashlik
Marinate the Chicken: In a mixing bowl, add the chicken cubes, and the marinade ingredients. Mix well, and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
Cook the Chicken: In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium-high, and saute the chicken for 6-8 minutes, or until fully cooked.
Add the bell pepper, tomatoes, and onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened.
Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a plate, and set aside.
Make the Sauce: In the same skillet, add a tablespoon or two of oil, and saute the ginger and garlic. Add all the sauce ingredients, except the corn flour slurry and green onion.
Cook for 5-6 minutes, until the sauce, is bubbling. Add the cornflour slurry, and mix well until it has thickened slightly.
Add the cooked chicken and veggies, and mix until it is evenly coated in the sauce. Serve with your favorite rice recipe.
Helpful Tips
Tip #1: You can also make this recipe using skewers. It's a slightly different version of the same recipe. Just skewer the chicken and vegetables alternatively (like I do in this Chicken Shish Taouk recipe), and grill it on a frying pan for 3-4 minutes on each side, until the chicken is cooked. Then you can make the sauce separately, and drizzle it over the prepared chicken skewers.
Tip #2: If the sauce becomes too thick, you can adjust its consistency of it by adding a tablespoon or two of water. I've also noticed that for different brands of cornflour, you might need to adjust the amount of cornflour you're using to get the desired thickness.
Tip #3: You can adjust the amount of spiciness in this recipe, by adding more or little siracha. You can also add chili garlic ketchup, which is popular in Pakistan and India.
Recipe FAQs
It is originally a dish from Russia but has evolved into a popular Indo-Chinese dish at Indian and Pakistani restaurants.
The two are similar, both involving skewered meat that is cooked on a grill. But there is also an Indo-Chinese version, which is made with chicken cubes, and veggies in a ketchup-based sauce.
More Indo-Chinese Recipes
Chicken Shashlik
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 500 grams chicken breast cubed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lal mirch powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 garlic cloves
For the Vegetables:
- 1 green bell pepper cubed
- 1 onion cubed
- 1 tomato cubed
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 cup tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lal mirch powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1-2 teaspoon cornflour to thicken the sauce (add 1-2 tablespoons of water and mix to create a cornflour slurry)
Instructions
Marinating the Chicken:
- In a mixing bowl, add the chicken and all of the marinade ingredients. Mix well, and marinate for at least 30 minutes (or overnight).
Cooking the Chicken and Vegetables:
- In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium high heat. Add the chicken, and saute it until it's golden brown and cooked through.
- This will take about 6-8 minutes.
- Now add the chopped bell pepper, onion, and tomato. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened.
- Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a plate, and set aside while you prepare the sauce.
Make the Sauce:
- Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and garlic, and saute for 15 seconds.
- Add the rest of the sauce ingredients except cornflour and green onions.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes until slightly thickened and bubbling. Adjust for seasonings.
- Mix cornflour with water, and add it to the sauce to thicken it.
- Add the chicken and vegetables, and mix to coat well.
Notes
- Chicken Breast: Can be substituted with chicken thighs cut into large chunks.
- Sauces: You can use your favorite suaces for this recipe. However, ketchup is an integral sauce for this recipe, so to get that restaurant style shashlik flavor you will have to use ketchup. To make it spicier, you can use chili garlic ketchup which is popular in India and Pakistan.
- Cook on Skewers: Sometimes chicken shashlik is served on skewers, and drizzled with the sauce on top. To do this, you can skewer the marinated chicken pieces and vegetables onto wooden skewers. Grill on each side for 3-4 minutes until cooked through, and then set aside. Prepare the sauce as directed, and drizzle over the chicken skewers.
- Storage Instructions: You can store chicken shashlik in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
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