If you’ve been following me for a while, than you know, I am a sucker for recreating restaurant style recipes at home, and Indo-Chinese is my favoriteeee genre! This recipe joins the list of my other classic restaurant remakes like the Dynamite Shrimps, Crispy Beijing Beef and Sichuan Chicken.
What is Chicken Shashlik
The word ‘Shashlik’ means skewered grilled meat, synonymous with “Shish” kebab in Turkey. It was traditionally made with Mutton and the internet says it originated from Central Asia and Russia. The Chicken Shashlik, while delicious, is somehow not as well known as other more popular Desi Chinese dishes like the Hot and Sour soup, or the Chicken manchurian. Like most fusion recipes, the Shashlik too, was made by restaurants either owned by Chinese immigrants in the lands of India/Pakistan or by locals serving the immigrants. The modern day shashlik can now be made in skewers or sticks (like this recipe), or simply like usual Chinese stirfry or gravy. Both are delicious btw
What to pair it with
This version of the recipe is great as a stand alone dish! Simply served with some spicy sichuan sauce on the side. You can also pair it with fried rice or simple pulav rice like matar pulao You can also serve it on a bed of garlic fried noodles On my low-carb phase, I like pairing it with a simple green salad Prawn crackers are a great side for these shashlik sticks.
Ingredients and Substitutions
The ingredients used to make this delicious dinner are super basic and easily swappable with substitutes in your pantry.
Chicken – I used breast piece cut up 1 inch chunks. You can use thigh pieces too for a more tender and juicy chicken cut. Vegetables – Onions and Bellpeppers (aka capsicums) are the “crunch” of the skewer. You can swap it out for any other crunchy vegetable you’d like to thread in. The tomatoes are added for flavor that they give once they are charred on the grill pan, so I wouldn’t recommend swapping them out with anything. Spices – You need salt, white pepper powder, cumin powder and Kashmiri Red chili powder. This kind of red chili powder is mild but has a beautiful red color. If you’d like to cook more Indian/Pakistani food, I’d suggest you get a pack from your Asian grocery store. Or you can simply use paprika if you don’t have this in your pantry. Sauces – The marinade uses your typical Chinese sauces like the Soy Sauce, Red Vinegar, and tomato paste. But worry not, use regular vinegar if you don’t have the red one. And use tomato ketchup if you are out of paste! Told ya this was an easy recipe. Other – Then you need garlic paste for marination and vegetable oil for grilling. Use any neutral oil that you cook with at home.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Instructions
This chicken shashlik just needs a couple of easy steps to come together. Chop, marinate, thread and grill! Serve hot with your favorite pairing combo. I like to serve the sizzling grill pan directly onto the table with a mat underneath.
TOP TIPS AND ADVICE
IF you are using wooden skewers like me, than soak them in water for 30 minutes before using. This makes them more pliable and they don’t burn easily while on the grillpan. Because of the tomato sauce, there will be some spluttering in the pan. IF you are new to cooking and grilling, either cover the pan with a lid while they on the stove or wear oven mittens to avoid any splatter on your hands. Since its been a while since I’ve been cooking, I usually just flip the skewers using my hands. But you should use tongs to flip the skewers. If you are afraid of any splatter, then remove the pan from the heat temporarily. Flip all the skewers and glaze them. Then put it back on the heat.
More Indo-Chinese recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these: Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!
