Sweet & Sour Chicken Drumsticks

 OKAY!! Am now getting too bored of salad postings in my blog. Salads are good but nothing like a gourmet. :) So here I am with a super good recipe of a Chinese origin. yummmmy right?? One normal day, my letter box was filled with umpteen number of take away menu cards and Chinese take aways were the maximum. I just went through couple of them and found that everybody were giving out the very same dishes. It simply struck to me that why not I try one of those dishes right at home. It is not that difficult if your pantry provides almost all the Chinese ingredients (hey there all the sauces!!) for your cooking. And moreover Chinese cooking is so easy & fast, that you will end up cooking something so simple, delicious & grand in no time.  "Sweet & Sour Chicken Drumsticks" would be a perfect accompaniment to any kind of Chow mein or fried rice. It is quite quick to make apart from the deep frying bit which takes the maximum time. You will be very happy to see the outcome as it looks just like any Chinese Restaurant dish. Try it out once and do let me know. :)Ingredients:

• 6-8 chicken drumsticks (skins removed)

• 1 egg

• 5 tbsp cornflour(cornstarch)

• 1 medium onion (cut into 8 wedges)

• 1 bell pepper (capsicum) (chop into wedges)

• 1 big carrot (cut into wedges)

• 2 cups chicken stock (put 2 cubes of stock in 350 ml hot water)

• 4 tbsp vinegar

• 4 tbsp brown sugar (if not use ordinary granulated sugar)

• 1 ts soy sauce

• 1 tbsp sherry (if not available, you can use 1 tbsp hoisin sauce)

• salt & pepper to season

• oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Trim & remove the skins of the  drumsticks if you want.   

1. Beat the egg with 1 tbsp of water in a shallow bowl. Mix 4 tbsp of cornflour with required amount of salt & generous amount of pepper in another shallow bowl. 

1. Dip the drumsticks in egg, then in cornflour. Coat well & keep them aside. 

1. Drop the chopped vegetables (onion, pepper & carrots) into a small saucepan of boiling water & cook for 5 minutes. Drain well. Keep aside. 

1. Heat a saucepan and pour the hot chicken stock along with vinegar, sugar soy sauce, 1 tbsp of cornflour & sherry or hoisin sauce.. Bring it to boil & simmer down to 2-3 minutes until the stock thickens. Keep aside. (The sauce will be quite strong when tasted at this time but trust me, when it is coated with the chicken and veggies, it will be alright).

1. Heat the oil for deep frying & fry in batches, the egg-cornflour coated chicken drumsticks until golden & tender on all sides. Drain on a kitchen paper. 

1. Now add the boiled vegetables to the sauce & then add the chicken to it. Reheat for 2-3 minutes until the sauce has covered the vegies & the drumsticks. 

1. Serve as a side to any oriental noodle or rice dish. Ting!!