Chilli baby corn recipe is a delicious vegetarian, vegan snack or starter recipe of crispy fried baby corn in a spicy, sweet, umami sauce for a bright and bold dish that everyone will love.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course, Starters
  • Cuisine: Indian, Indo Chinese

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons cornstarch ((cornflour))
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon salt (or add as per taste)
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • 18 to 20 baby corn (- 200 grams)
  • 6 tablespoons oil (- for frying)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • ½ cup chopped spring onion whites ((scallion whites))
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic (or 5 to 6 medium sized garlic)
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger (or 1 to 1.5 inches ginger)
  • 2 to 3 green chilies (- slit or sliced)
  • ⅓ cup thinly sliced (or finely chopped capsicum)
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce (- naturally brewed)
  • 1 teaspoon sweet green chili sauce (or sweet red chilli sauce, add as per taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar (or add as required)
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water (- optional)
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch ((cornflour) - optional)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion greens ((scallion greens))
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons spring onion greens

Method

Making batter

  1. Rinse and dry the baby corn with kitchen towel. Chop the baby corn in halves if they are larger in size or keep them whole if they are smaller.
  2. Prep the spring onions, garlic, green chillies, ginger, capsicum and set aside.
  3. Make a smooth and medium thick batter with the cornstarch (cornflour), all purpose flour, salt, pepper and water.
  4. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan.
  5. Dip each baby corn piece in the batter and coat it well with the batter.
  6. Gently place the batter coated baby corn pieces in the hot oil.
  7. When one side firms up and is crispy, light golden, turn over and fry the second side.
  8. Fry the baby corn till the edges and sides are golden brown turning over a couple of times with a slotted spoon
  9. Place the fried baby corn on kitchen paper towels.

Making sauce

  1. In another pan or frying pan or wok, heat about 1 tablespoon oil. Or you could use the same pan that was used for frying the baby corn - keeping 1 tablespoon oil in it, remove the remaining oil with a spoon.
  2. Add chopped spring onions, ginger, garlic and slit green chilies.
  3. Stir fry on a medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
  4. Now add the sliced capsicum (green bell pepper). If you do not have capsicum, you can skip it
  5. Stir-fry on medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes until the capsicum is half cooked. It should have some crunch.
  6. Lower the heat to medium and add the soy sauce, sweet green chilli sauce or sweet red chilli sauce. Mix well.
  7. Now sprinkle black pepper powder, salt and sugar. Mix again.

Making Chilli Baby Corn

  1. Add the fried baby corn. Gently mix with the rest of the ingredients. You could stop here if you prefer a highly crispy and crunchy baby corn texture. But if you want a smooth glazed sauce coating on the baby corn then proceed to the following steps.
  2. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water and mix again.
  3. To give a glaze and smoothness in the dish, sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (cornflour).
  4. Mix well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or more till the cornstarch has cooked.
  5. Add the apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar and stir again.
  6. Lastly add the chopped green springs greens and give a mix.
  7. Check the taste and add salt, pepper or soy sauce if required.
  8. Serve the baby corn garnished with some spring onion greens or chopped celery.
  9. You can serve chilli baby corn as a starter snack or with bread or as a side with stir fried noodles or fried rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.