Devilled Chicken Sri Lankan Style

This little recipe has been a hot commodity in my Instagram DM's for a while now I have finally managed to organise a basic, workable recipe for those wanting to give this a go. The Sri Lankan devilled chicken is a quintessential part of the Sri Lankan Chinese set menu. All through my childhood, this delicious dish has appeared in many a rice packet or takeaway lunch box, at many dinner parties and honestly pretty much at any occasion. However, unlike the childhood versions of this dish that is loaded with pure MSG (and I have zero issue with MSG but I prefer the naturally occurring stuff to the stuff that comes out of a bottle), this is a lot nicer on your tummy and heart.

What makes this supremely devilish in my iteration is that I use arrack. Now this is completely optional, but honestly if you consume alcohol, definitely include the arrack (whiskey, bourbon or rum also good!). The alcohol cooks out completely so this is definitely kid friendly even with the alcohol added in and leaves behind a lovely, sweet richness in the sauce.

I do want to say that this recipe is a work in progress. It is not often that I cook this because it is a special occasion food for me, so I haven't had as much of a chance to test this recipe as much as I'd like to. I also only have very limited step by step photos. I really do apologise, the only photos I had were ones I downloaded from my Instagram story. However, this will be remedied soon and I will eventually have all the step by step photos up with a tad more clarity. Before we begin, here are some recipe notes that are important:

Recipe notes

Saucy vs Dry: I personally prefer the drier version of this dish instead of the saucier, wetter one (oooh gurl!). I usually make this alongside a saucy chop suey so I find that I like the chicken to have less sauce. If you do want a bit more sauce, simply add 2 tsp of cornflour to 180ml of water and mix this into the tomato sauce.

Cut of chicken: As much as I am an advocate for the use of thigh meat, this is one of those few times when chicken breast actually lends itself better. You can also use thinly sliced beef or lamb, thinly sliced pork, or whole button mushrooms for a vegan option. If you want a short cut version, try using oven baked frozen chicken tenders!

Shallow frying vs deep frying: I shallow fry these. Honestly, deep frying is not necessary and can run the risk of drying out the chicken. You can also be super healthy and bake or air fry the chicken. You do you babe!

Chilie paste: Dry Chinese chilie paste will also work if you don't have the Sri Lankan stuff. Make sure you buy one that does not have Szechuan peppercorns-- they cause numbness in your mouth which isn't unpleasant but it's not's what this dish is about. If you don't have chilie paste, just double the amount of chilie flakes.

Serving and Storing: This is best eaten within 1 hour of being made. The leftovers will retain their juiciness for about 1 day in the refrigerator, but beyond that everything will be a bit mushy. Although to be honest unless I make a big batch of this I never have leftovers anyway so I doubt it'll be a problem!

And with that said, away we go!

Ingredients

For the chicken marinade & fry

• 400g boneless chicken breast or thigh, cubed

• 3 tsp chili powder

• 2 tsp pepper powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tsp soy sauce

• 2 tbs vinegar

• 1 cup flour

• Oil for frying

For the devil

• 1 tbs of garlic paste

• 1 tbs ginger paste

• 2 green chilies sliced

• 1 large onion cut into chunks

• 2 sprigs curry leaves

• 1 piece of pandan leaf (1 inch)

• 2-3 banana peppers or capsicum sliced diagonally

• 1 large tomato cut into chunks

• Optional: spring onion stalks, whole dried red chilies, fresh coriander

For the stir fry sauce

• 4 tbs tomato sauce or ketchup

• 1 tbs Sri Lankan chilie paste

• 1 stock cube (dissolve in 50 ml/3 tbsp water)

• 1 tbs sweet chili sauce

• 2 tsp soy sauce

• 3 tsp kitul pani or honey

• 1 tbs chili flakes (leave out if you're making this less hot)

• 1 tsp lime juice

• 2 tbs of arrack or whiskey (optional)

• Optional: 2 tsp hoisin sauce, 2 tsp oyster sauce

Method

Marinate the chicken for a minimum of 20 minutes with the marinade ingredients (minus the flour and oil, of course). Whilst that is happening, ensure that you prep all the other items you need to cut or prep as this moves fairly quickly afterwards.

Drain the marinade out of the chicken by using a sieve. DO NOT THROW THE LEFTOVER MARINADE AWAY. Into the bowl with the leftover marinade, add all the ingredients listed under "stir fry sauce" list. Mix well and leave.

Toss the chicken pieces in the flour until they are well coated. Shake off the excess and shallow fry in batches until they are golden brown.

Drain the excess oil and leave aside the chicken. Next, bring up a wide frying or wok to temperature with 2 tbs of oil. Add in one third of the onion,all of the ginger and garlic paste, 1 sprig of the curry leaves, and the pandan leaf. Fry until fragrant.

Next, add in the stir fry sauce mixture you've made. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and check for seasoning and adjust to your taste. The color needs to deepen and the sauce should thicken a little bit but do not let it dry out. If you are using alcohol, it is especially important to cook this sauce out really well. If it does dry out, rehydrate with some stock or water.

After about 3-4 minutes of constantly stirring the sauce, add in the chicken, followed by the tomato and the banana peppers or capsicums if using.

Continue to cook on a high heat for about 3-4 minutes until all the chicken pieces are well coated and the peppers and tomatoes are starting to soften. At this stage, turn the heat off and add in the rest of the onion and curry leaves. If you are using spring onion or coriander, this is the time to add that in. It's important to do this last step with the heat off because the residual heat will still cook the veg but they will remain relatively crunchy and add a nice textural contrast.

Give one final toss through and serve with your favourite accompaniments! Or you can pour yourself (and your mates) a nice cold glass of beer (or ginger beer!) and enjoy this on it's own as a snack, side or entree!

And honestly, that's it! How easy is that! I had to rush to get this published simply because I was just completely inundated with requests for this recipe, so hopefully this recipe is detailed enough for most people to make sense of. I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with!

Sav xx