A slight variation to the classic Chilli Chicken, this Black Pepper Chicken Fry recipe can leave you sprinting to the nearest bottle of cold water. But nonetheless, it’s a perfect call for a cold late winter afternoon. So ahead, don’t be afraid, definitely give it a try. But don’t go about saying I didn’t warn you!
There are certain times in a year when all I want to do is nothing more than cuddle up with a great book and nibble on some extra-spicy food – like this Black Pepper Chicken Fry. Throw in a few cold winds my way, and the mood is set. With Hubby Dear out on one of his business tours, leaving me all alone to face the dilemma of what to pack for our upcoming tropical vacation, I was definitely in the need for some spiced up comfort.
While I successfully managed to pick certain favourites from my existing wardrobe and shopped for what I deemed as must-haves for a holiday by the beach, I was still to face the toughest part – fitting it all into one lousy teeny-tiny suitcase. Okay, so maybe it’s not all that teeny-tiny, but it’s still too small for the 27 various outfit combinations I solemnly swear I need for the 7-day trip. And that’s not including all the coordinating shoes and accessories! Well, what can I say, I like to travel Bollywood style.
I suddenly realized as I emerged from the pile of clothes I was almost buried under, that I had spent the last four hours rummaging through my closet, getting all my “to-pack” things in order. Long past my regular lunchtime, it had just occurred to me how hungry I actually was. So I lazily strolled into my kitchen with no inspiration whatsoever. Then, as if something called out to me, I recalled how I had left some chicken to defrost the night before. Okay, so I had chicken on my mind. What to do with it, I still had no idea. And that’s how this Black Pepper Chicken Fry recipe was born.
Black Pepper Chicken Fry
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tbsp light cooking oil
- 7-8 curry leaves
- 3 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 tsp garlic crushed
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 green bell pepper sliced
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Mix chicken pieces with salt, turmeric and chilli powder and set aside to marinate for about an hour. In a non-stick pan, heat oil and fry chicken till brown and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, saute curry leaves, green chillies, garlic till fragrant. Add sliced onions and fry till lightly transparent. Add green pepper, salt, and pepper, and fry for another minute or two.
- Add in fried chicken pieces and soya sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes, allowing flavours to blend well.
This post was originally published in Jan 2007 and has been recently updated.
If you like this recipe, you will surely love my Chilli Chicken and Ginger Shrimp Stir-fry recipe as well.
Tried this recipe? Leave a Comment and let me know, also Rate it by clicking the number of stars on the recipe card. Want to share your version with me? Tag me on Instagram @hookedonheat
It’s really awesome recipe, you have to try this one!
WOW!!!! Its so delicious… I like this..I ate it with chappathi and was tasty!!!!!!
Let me give it a shot, if I can cook half as good as it looks it will be my accomplishment for the year 🙂
Meena.. u r an absolute genius n inspire me to cook !! i just finished making this n it looks great..Thanks to you, i’ve started takin an interest in cooking.
U r ma saviour!!!
Hello Meena!
I am a passionate foodie & weekend chef (who takes over the kitchen with my wife’s permission) from Bangalore who belongs to “one lives to eat” school of thought.
I chanced upon your website when I was searching for a Dal Makhni recipe. It did not take long to realize the passion, care, and simplistic accuracy behind your recipes and related dialogue and the same has gotten me hooked.
I went ahead and tried the Dal Makhni recipe, it came out almost perfect but for the rajmah being slightly undercooked. On post mortem analysis as my family devoured, my mom remarked how I missed out on adding sufficient water as I pressure cooked. I then realized how I chose a smaller capacity of pressure cooker instead of going for the bigger one.
The pepper chicken too was applauded especially by my dad who just loves peppery stuff. Inspired by what some Andhra style restaurants in Bangalore do to their mutton starters, I decided to add small broken pieces of cashew nut along with capsicum which turned to be a nice enhancer ensuring not only chicken but also the capsicum/onion got cleaned up without a trace after serving.
My only 2 cents on alert to others trying this recipe would be to use half the quantity of Soya sauce (add on more later if you prefer) because some of soya sauces out there like the one I used seem to be more thicker and concentrated which might dab your chicken with extra soya coating reducing the power of pepper and overpowering the subtle tastes of red chilli in the chicken.
Will keep you posted on my next weekend tryst, I think I might go baking. Thanks for sharing and doing the same so well.
looks really yummy, will try this soon. Thanks for sharing, I am so glad that I found your blog.
Hi Meena…I made this recipe for my dear hubby and I after a long day at work…it was quick, easy, and YUMMY!!! I’ll keep visiting your sites for more recipes. We added hot sauce to add more heat!
Hi Meena, I just tried this recipe, and it turned out great! So simple, yet so tasty… Only change I made was to increase the spice a little bit, I love the heat… 🙂
Meena,
I tried ur pepper chicken y’day & it was absolutely delicious.
Thanks,
Aruna
I tried this recipe. I didn’t have the green peppers, but it still came out great! Thanks for sharing.
I made this last night for the boyfriend and his buddies and it was a hit! I didn’t realize you were Canadian either until I read your recent post! We found all the spices in Kensington Market. I even cooked real basmati rice for the first time (not the instant crap!) We were afraid it might be too hot after pre-tasting the chillies so we scraped out the seeds in half of them but afterwards we decided it needed the heat. (We had tripled the recipe and 9 chillies seemed intimidating) I can’t wait to try more of your recipes out!
Your photos are always so gorgeous!
I am SO going to make this for my boyfriend next weekend as soon as I track down all the spices.
Yummy! Sounds like a delicious kick. Can’ t wait to try it. Love soy sauce.
just hopped on by. I love your site design. so clean. 🙂
Dear Meena,
I’m so pleased to come across ur website….u have made my dream come true of cooking fusion food…this recipe is amazing and I love it…ur a Cooking Goddess in true sense…So looking forward for your new recipes…
Love & regards
Amna Majeed
oh I am peppered alright!! This is a HOT dish Meena. Can’t wait to give it a try.
It’s been a long time since I checked out your blog. I must say, you have come a long way since you started, but you just get better and better!!! Have a lovely trip to the tropics!!!
Hi Meena, your peppered chicken with rice looks great. Ooh, I love all the aromatics, especially curry leaves. It is so expensive to get here, what bout there? I tried on some shrimp stir fry with curry leaves, and it turned out great. I’ll try it out with your chicken recipe next time, thx 🙂 Cheers ! 🙂
Superb !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve never heard of curry leaves before! but I love curry. this looks great!
Hi Rachel, curry leaves are an aromatic herb widely popular with many Asian cuisines and often readily available at most of the local Asian grocery stores. Hope you try it out, the flavours are something you’ll just want to keep coming back to!
yum, this looks great and I’m sure way better than Chinese take out!
pepper chicken looks yummy. I like them but right now I am not going to eat non-veg for one more year as one year passed. But When Ever get a chance I can make this for my family.thanks for sharing.
looks lovely but I’d have to go easy on the spices, I am terribly sensitive to spicy food. I’ve never seen curry leaves here though…
You can definitely cut down on the spices Linda. I’d suggest omitting the green chillies altogether, the black pepper would spice it up just right. Curry leaves are an aromatic herb widely popular with many Asian cuisines and often readily available at most of the local Asian grocery stores. Hope that helps!
Just a quick question (from a new reader :), what are curry leaves?
Hi Melissa, thanks for dropping by. Curry leaves are an aromatic herb widely popular with many Asian cuisines and often readily available at most of the local Asian grocery stores. Hopes this helps! 🙂
Oh Meena, sounds delish!! As soon as I can source some curry leaves I’m gonna try this one!
Hey Meena, I am also like you when it comes to vacation and packing….:))
I love your Indo-Chinese recipes, and I must say they are great. How do you make such wonderful Chinese food? My husband and me love it so much that I have to try it. 🙂
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Nidhi.
I was LOL when I was reading about your 27 pairs for 7 days…..sounds just like me…hahahaha…..i think all girls love to do this…:) btw your Chinese/Indo-Chinese recipes are awesome…. oh ya and where did you buy this dinnerware?
The chicken looks delicious. At first, I thought it was another version of the chilli paneer you had blogged earlier, which is on my must-try list. Have a packet of paneer in the fridge saying “Chili fry me” every time I open it.
The chicken came out excellent. It was pretty easy to cook too and very spicy, just my kind. Love the combination of peppers with chicken. Thanks a lot once again. Your recipes ROCK!! 🙂
Haha, that’s a wonderful write-up!!! I completely agree I never had the inclination to enter the kitchen nor eat on time when hubby was away for 3 months !!!! The chicken looks very very delicious !!!
I love the “travel Bollywood style”! I was watching Rang De Basanti last night and was thinking about how much I’d like to change outfits every time I turned around!
Perfect timing. I am making it tonite itself 🙂
Meena…this looks so tempting. Will try it for sure.