Sometimes you don’t want to spend even 20 minutes in the kitchen. But all you’re thinking is about a bowl of food that’s comforting and delicious. Something to pick your mood up, something to put a smile on your face and something to help you through the rest of the evening. This chilli basil chicken stir-fry is definitely that something. With a light chilli kick and freshness of basil, it sure will perk you up in no time. You know what the best part is, though? It can be done is less than 15 mins with 2-3 mins of prepping.You can add water and cornstarch to make it a little more thick, but I prefer not to. The thickness in the sauce comes from oyster sauce and that works just fine for me. Cornstarch just masks all the flavours of the dish and makes it all gloopy and pasty. We’re used to the greasy Indian-Chinese way of gravies that come loaded with the stuff. I’d rather have a slightly runny sauce than a cornstarch laced one.
Yield:
2 servings
Prep time:
3-4 mins
Cooking time:
10-12 mins
Ingredients:
Boneless chicken – 300 gm cut into bite size pieces
Sesame oil – 1 tbsp (or any vegetable oil)
Fresh red chillies – 3 small or 1 large (thin slices)
Fresh basil – handful
Garlic – 4 cloves finely sliced
Chinese 5 spices – 1 tsp (optional)
Sauce:
Oyster sauce – 2 tbsp
Fish sauce – 2 tbsp
Soy sauce – 1 tbsp
Brown sugar – 2 tsp
Method:
Heat oil and toss the chicken in there.
Let it cook for 3-4 mins while you mix the ingredients for the sauce.
Add the chillies, garlic, Chinese 5 spice and basil.
Now add the sauce and let it simmer for another 5 mins or till the chicken is cooked through.
Take it off the heat and serve with rice or noodles.
