Discover How to Make Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken (Dewal Chicken)! A great recipe for spicy food lovers. It doesn’t feel as spicy if the devilled chicken is paired with rice. Serve it with white rice, fried rice, or biryani as a side dish. It also goes well with drinks (or Cocktails) as finger food or as bites.
Learn to Make Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken (Dewal Chicken)
In this post, I’ll show you how to make ‘Dewal Chicken’ easily at home from scratch. Here you’ll find an easy-to-follow recipe with step-by-step instructions, helpful info plus top tips.
This is a flexible recipe. Feel free to experiment with ingredients. Make it more or less spicy to your taste. I hope you will try the recipe and enjoy ‘Dewal Chicken’ as much as I do!
What is Devilled Chicken?
Chicken dishes are an all-time favorite in many cultures and Sri Lanka is no exception. Devilled chicken is one of the most popular Sri Lankan chicken dishes.
Fried chicken pieces are stir-fried in a sweet, sour, hot, and spicy chili-based sauce. They are mixed with chopped onion, banana peppers, and tomatoes. Sweet, sour, devilishly hot but full of complex flavors that combine Sri Lankan and Chinese cuisine.
This dish is locally known as Dewal Chicken (ඩෙවල් චිකන්), or Chicken Dewal (චිකන් ඩෙවල්).
The name ‘Devilled’ is a reference to the heat of the dish. The heat comes from red chili powder and chili sauce.
What makes a food deviled?
The word “devil” is a culinary term. It is used to describe a highly seasoned dish with various hot or spicy seasonings. These include red pepper, chili sauce, Tabasco sauce, or mustard. These ingredients impart a strong flavor, thereby creating a ‘deviled’ dish”. But, the term always doesn’t refer to something spicy, for example, ‘Devil’s Food Cake’. In that case, the term “devil” is used to describe a dark, rich, chocolate cake.
What is the difference between ‘devilled’ and ‘deviled’? The terms ‘devilled’ and ‘deviled’ both mean the same thing. The only difference is that ”deviled” is the accepted spelling in American English while ”devilled” is the preferred British spelling
Useful Tips
- Chicken is marinated with garlic, ginger, chili, pepper, salt, and vinegar (or lime/lemon juice). This allows the chicken to absorb the flavors. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
- I used onion, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes as vegetables. In Sri Lanka, banana peppers are commonly used. You can add also chopped fresh green or red chilies to make it more spicier.
- Saute the vegetables in oil for about one minute before stir-frying them with chicken to enhance the color and crunchiness.
- When making this kind of simple dish with complex flavors, timing is very important. Don’t dump all the ingredients at once.
- I mixed ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar to make the sauce. You can also add one or more ingredients. Some options include oyster sauce, hot chili sauce, tomato sauce, tabasco sauce, and ground mustard.
- If you want to make it red but not spicy, you can add red paprika powder as needed.
Serving Suggestions
Serve it with white rice, fried rice, or biryani as a side dish. It also goes well with drinks (or Cocktails) as finger food or as bites.
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Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken
(Dewal Chicken) step-by-step recipe
(Check out the printable recipe card at the end of the post)
Prep Time 15 min
Cooking Time 10 min
Marination 30 min
Ingredients
Marinade For the Chicken
400 g chicken, cut into pieces
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tbsp vinegar (or lemon/lime juice)
For Frying Chicken
2 tbsp plain flour
Oil for frying, as needed
For Making Devilled Chicken
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tbsp hot chili powder
1 tbsp chili flakes
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar (or lemon/lime juice)
1 tbsp sugar
1 onion (yellow or purple), roughly chopped
4 bell peppers (red & green), roughly chopped
5 cherry tomatoes or 1 large tomato, chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 tbsp chili powder, optional
Instructions
Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.
Marinate; garlic paste, ginger paste, chili powder, salt, vinegar (or lime/lemon juice), and soy sauce.
Coat generously with the marinade ingredients and set aside for about 30 min.
Add the flour. Mix well
Fry the marinated chicken pieces until cooked through.
Drain off excess oil and set aside.
Cut the vegetables; onion, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes.
Gather the ingredients for making the devilled fish. Garlic and ginger paste, chili powder, chili flakes, pepper, and salt for stir-frying. Mix ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar to make a sauce.
Heat the oil and saute the cut vegetables for about one minute. Immediately remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon.
Stir-fry the ginger and garlic paste until it starts to release its aroma. Stir constantly for a minute so that it doesn’t burn.
Stir-fry the chili powder, chili flakes, salt, and pepper for a few seconds.
Next, add the sauce and cook until warmed through, for a minute.
Stir-fry the fried chicken pieced until they are well coated with the sauce.
Add and stir-fry the sauteed bell peppers, onion, and tomato for a minute. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Sprinkle with more red chili powder and flakes, if desired. Remove from heat. Serve hot with fluffy, long-grain white rice, and enjoy!
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Easy! Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken (Dewal Chiken)
Ingredients
Marinade For the Chicken
- 400 g chicken cut into pieces
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon/lime juice
For Frying Chicken
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- Oil for frying as needed
For Making Devilled Chicken
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp hot chili powder
- 1 tbsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp vinegar or lemon/lime juice
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 onion yellow or purple, roughly chopped
- 4 bell peppers red & green, roughly chopped
- 5 cherry tomatoes or 1 large tomato chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp chili powder optional
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces.
- Marinate; garlic paste, ginger paste, chili powder, salt, vinegar (or lime/lemon juice), and soy sauce.
- Coat generously with the marinade ingredients and set aside for about 30 min.
- Add the flour. Mix well
- Fry the marinated chicken pieces until cooked through.
- Drain off excess oil and set aside.
- Cut the vegetables; onion, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes.
- Gather the ingredients for making the devilled fish. Garlic and ginger paste, chili powder, chili flakes, pepper, and salt for stir-frying. Mix together ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar to make a sauce.
- Heat the oil and saute the cut vegetables for about one minute. Immediately remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon.
- Stir-fry the ginger and garlic paste until it starts to release its aroma. Stir constantly for a minute so that it doesn’t burn.
- Add chili powder, chili flakes, salt, and pepper and stir constantly for a few seconds so that it doesn’t burn.
- Add the sauce and cook until warmed through, for a minute.
- Add the fried chicken pieces and stir-fry until they are well coated with the sauce.
- Stir-fry the sauteed bell peppers, onion, and tomato for a minute. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Sprinkle with more red chili powder and flakes, if desired. Remove from heat. Serve hot with fluffy, long-grain white rice, and enjoy!
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