Kukul Mas Devil
Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken (Chicken Devil)
Sri Lankan devilled chicken, kukul mas devil, is crisp-fried boneless chicken tossed over high heat through a thick glossy sauce of soy, tomato, chilli and a splash of vinegar. Onion petals, capsicum, leeks and green chilli go in and stay crunchy. It's sweet, sour and properly hot, with crisp edges on the chicken and a sticky fiery glaze that clings to every piece. Serve it over rice and it disappears fast.
Crispy fried chicken tossed hard through a glossy sweet-sour-hot sauce with crunchy onion and capsicum. It's the takeaway favourite, made better at home.
- Total time
- 40 min
- 20 min prep · 20 min cook
- Serves
- 4 people
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice level
- Authentic Hot
- Country help
- USA · UK · AU · CA substitutes included
CeylonCooking
ceyloncooking.com/recipes/devilled-chicken
Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken (Kukul Mas Devil)
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Nutrition
Estimated values, per serving.
About This Dish
Devilled chicken is right at the centre of Sri Lanka's long love affair with Chinese-style cooking. When Chinese restaurants opened in Colombo decades ago, local cooks grabbed the wok, the high heat and the sweet-sour idea and made it their own, pushing chilli, soy and tomato until a whole devilled family was born. Now kukul mas devil shows up everywhere: hotel buffets, weddings, late-night takeaway boxes, and the family table when the meal needs to feel a little special.
The word devilled is the giveaway. In Sri Lankan kitchens it's not the mustardy English egg dish. It means a protein fried until crisp, then thrown into a hot pan and tossed hard through a glossy, sweet-sour-hot sauce loaded with onion, capsicum and chilli. The same move gives you devilled prawns, devilled cuttlefish, devilled fish and devilled beef, but chicken is the one most people reach for first. Every cook guards their own balance of soy, tomato sauce, sugar and vinegar, and the friendly argument over how saucy it should be never really ends.
What makes it sing is contrast. The chicken keeps its crisp edges, the onion and capsicum stay bright and crunchy, and the sauce sits somewhere between sweet, sharp and fiery so no single note takes over. Done well, it's glossy rather than wet, the glaze clinging to each piece instead of pooling on the plate. Pile it over hot rice, or fold it into kottu, and you understand why it has stuck around as a favourite.
What Makes It Devilled Chicken?
Devilled is a Sri Lankan-Chinese style, not one fixed recipe. The method is the whole thing: fry the protein until crisp and golden, then stir-fry it hard and fast through a thick glossy sauce built on soy, tomato, chilli and a little sugar and vinegar. Onion petals, capsicum and green chilli tumble in at the end so they keep their crunch. You get sweet, sour and hot all at once, with snappy vegetables and chicken still crisp at the edges. The same playbook gives you devilled prawns, cuttlefish, fish and beef, which is why you see the whole devilled family all over Sri Lankan menus.
The one step you can't skip is frying the chicken crisp first. Boneless pieces get tossed in cornflour and fried until deep golden, which builds an edge sturdy enough to survive the final toss. Skip it and the chicken hits the sauce soft, soaks up moisture and turns into a stew instead of a stir-fry. That crisp coating is what lets each piece pick up a slick of glaze while still holding a bite, so the contrast between crunchy chicken and glossy sauce is the whole point.
What It Should Taste Like
Crisp-edged chicken in a thick glossy sweet-sour-hot glaze, with the savoury depth of soy, the tang of vinegar and tomato, and the bite of chilli. Onion and capsicum stay crunchy, so every mouthful has crunch, heat and sticky sweetness all at once.
Ingredients
This recipe makes 4 servings. Change the number and every amount below updates with it. Substitutes for hard-to-find items are in the sidebar.
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Chicken
- Boneless chicken thighcut into bite-sized chunks600 g
- Soy sauce1 tbsp
- Black pepper½ tsp
- Chilli powder½ tsp
- Salt½ tsp
- Cornflour (cornstarch)3 tbsp
- Oilfor frying
Devilled Sauce
- Oilfor the stir-fry2 tbsp
- Garlicchopped4 cloves
- Gingerchopped1 tbsp
- Curry leaves1 sprig
- Onioncut into petals1 large
- Capsicum (bell pepper)cut into chunks1
- Leekssliced½ cup
- Green chilliessliced3
- Tomatocut into wedges1
- Soy sauce2 tbsp
- Tomato sauce (ketchup)3 tbsp
- Chilli sauceor 1 tsp chilli flakes1 tbsp
- Sugar1 tsp
- Vinegar1 tbsp
- Saltto taste
Method
Follow these 6 steps. Each one explains not just what to do, but why it matters.
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- 01
Marinate the Chicken
Toss the chicken chunks with the soy sauce, black pepper, chilli powder and salt, then leave them to sit for 15 minutes while you get on with the vegetables.
This quick marinade does two things. The soy gets right into the chicken and gives it a savoury, slightly fermented depth that plain salt just can't reach. The pepper and chilli season the meat from the inside, so the heat isn't only on the surface. Fifteen minutes is plenty because the pieces are small and the flavour sinks in fast. You'll know it's ready when the chicken looks glossy and has gone a faint tan from the soy.
Tip: Thigh meat takes a marinade better than breast and stays juicier, so reach for it if you can.
- 02
Coat and Fry Until Crisp
Toss the marinated chicken in the cornflour until lightly coated, then fry in hot oil in batches until deep golden and crisp. Drain on paper.
This is what makes it devilled chicken rather than a soft stir-fry, so don't rush it. The cornflour builds a thin, sturdy crust that crisps in the oil and, crucially, survives the final toss through the sauce. Keep the oil properly hot and fry in batches. Crowd the pan and the temperature drops, the coating turns pale and the chicken steams instead of browning. You're after a deep golden colour and an audible crackle when you press a piece. It'll soften a touch in the sauce later, so err on the crisp side now.
Tip: Drop in one piece first. It should sizzle steadily and float, not sink and sit. That tells you the oil is hot enough.
- 03
Start the Aromatics
In a wide pan or wok, heat the oil over high heat and fry the garlic, ginger and curry leaves for a few seconds until fragrant.
Everything from here moves fast, so have all your vegetables and sauces lined up before the pan gets hot. The instant the garlic and ginger hit the oil they bloom and perfume the kitchen, and the curry leaves crackle and release their citrusy back note. A few seconds is all they need. Let them catch and burn and the whole dish turns bitter. High heat is non-negotiable, because devilled chicken is a stir-fry, not a simmer, and the wok needs to stay roaring to keep the vegetables crunchy.
Tip: Use your widest pan. A crowded pan traps steam and softens the vegetables, which is exactly what you don't want here.
- 04
Toss in the Vegetables
Add the onion petals, capsicum, leeks and green chilli and stir-fry over high heat for a minute or two, just until they soften slightly at the edges but stay crunchy.
The vegetables are meant to stay snappy, so keep them moving and keep the heat high. You want the onion petals to separate and char a little at the edges while still holding a crisp bite, and the capsicum to brighten in colour without going limp. This is where the texture of the finished dish is decided. A minute or two is enough. The moment they look glossy and just-softened, they're ready. Overcook them now and the whole thing turns soft and watery.
Tip: Cut the onion and capsicum into bold, similar-sized pieces so they cook at the same rate and look the part.
- 05
Build the Sauce
Stir in the soy sauce, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, sugar and vinegar along with the tomato wedges, then toss everything over high heat until the sauce thickens and turns glossy.
This is where devilled chicken gets its personality. As the sauces hit the hot pan they bubble and reduce quickly, the sugar starts to caramelise at the edges and the vinegar smells sharp before it mellows into the glaze. Keep tossing so the sauce coats rather than pools. You're chasing a thick, shiny glaze that clings, not a soup. Taste and adjust here: more sugar to round it, more vinegar to sharpen it, more chilli to push the heat. The tomato wedges soften just enough to add freshness without breaking down.
Tip: If the sauce looks thin, let it bubble hard for another half a minute. It should coat the back of a spoon before the chicken goes in.
- 06
Toss Through the Chicken
Return the crisp chicken to the pan and toss hard over high heat for a minute so every piece is slicked in the glossy sauce, then serve straight away.
Speed is everything in this last step. Add the chicken, toss it through the sauce quickly and get it off the heat while the coating is still crisp. Lingering here lets the chicken drink up moisture and lose its bite, which defeats the whole dish. A minute of hard tossing is enough to coat each piece in that dark, shiny glaze. Serve it the moment it's done, because devilled chicken is at its best hot from the pan, when the contrast between crisp chicken and sticky sauce is sharpest.
Tip: Plate it immediately over hot rice. Left to sit, the steam softens the crust, so this is a cook-and-serve dish, not a make-ahead one.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Skipping the cornflour fry, so the chicken goes into the sauce soft and never crisps up.
- Crowding the pan when frying or stir-frying, which traps steam and turns everything soggy.
- Cooking the onion and capsicum too long, so they go limp instead of staying crunchy.
- Letting the sauce stay thin and watery instead of reducing it to a thick, glossy glaze.
Serving Ideas
- Piled over hot steamed rice or yellow rice for a quick, satisfying plate.
- Folded through kottu roti, where the sauce coats every shred of bread.
- As a sharp, fiery centrepiece alongside fried rice and a cooling salad.
Building a whole plate around it? Start from our beginner rice and curry menu, which sets out what to cook alongside it and in what order.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Best eaten straight from the pan while the chicken is crisp. Leftovers keep for 2 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Reheat hard and fast in a hot pan or air fryer rather than the microwave to bring back some crispness. The sauce will have softened the coating by then, but the flavour is still good.
Two Ways to Cook It
Shallow-fry the cornflour-coated chicken in a non-stick pan instead of deep-frying. Use ready-made chilli sauce and tomato ketchup for the glaze, and keep the green chilli to one so the heat stays gentle.
Deep-fry the chicken until properly crisp, build the sauce in a screaming-hot wok with curry leaves and fresh green chilli, and toss everything hard and fast so the vegetables stay crunchy and the glaze stays glossy and fiery.
Lighter and Healthier Version
Devilled chicken is traditionally fried, but it takes well to lighter methods. You don't lose the sweet-sour-hot character that makes it devilled. A few small changes cut the oil and sugar while keeping the crisp edges and glossy glaze that matter most.
Air Fry the Chicken
Toss the cornflour-coated chicken with just 1 tbsp of oil and air-fry at 200C/400F for 12 to 15 minutes, shaking halfway, until crisp and golden. This uses a fraction of the oil of deep-frying and still gives you a sturdy edge that survives the toss.
Use Chicken Breast
If you want to cut the fat, swap the thigh for skinless breast. Keep the pieces a little bigger and do not overcook them, because breast dries out faster. Add them to the sauce at the very last moment.
Cut the Sugar
The sweetness mostly comes from the tomato sauce, so halve the added sugar or skip it completely. Let the natural sweetness of the caramelised onion and tomato carry the glaze instead.
Load up the Vegetables
Double the onion, capsicum, leeks and green chilli. More crunchy vegetables stretch the dish, add fibre and colour, and let you use a little less chicken while every mouthful still feels satisfying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sri Lankan devilled chicken, or kukul mas devil, is crisp-fried boneless chicken tossed over high heat through a thick, glossy sweet-sour-hot sauce with onion, capsicum, leeks and green chilli. It's a Sri Lankan-Chinese stir-fry built on soy sauce, tomato sauce, chilli and a splash of vinegar, with the chicken kept crisp at the edges and the vegetables left crunchy. It's usually served over rice.
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