Chicken in a spicy garlic sauce

We have a Chinese restaurant/take away just around the corner and we frequently visit the same. The chicken and beef in black bean sauce and the seafood/meat in garlic sauce are incredible that we keep ordering the same again and again. I tried to recreate the chicken in garlic sauce recipe here, but failed miserably. Its nowhere close to what i had at the restaurant, but it tasted delicious anyway.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts- 1 lb (450gms), cleaned and cut into bite size cubes

To marinate

Dark soy sauce- 2 tbs

Chilli powder- 3/4 tbs

Salt- to taste

English shallots- 2, julienned

Pepper powder- 1 tsp

Garlic- 6 pods, chopped fine

Ginger- 1 inch piece, chopped fine

Chicken Stock cube- 1 (I use Knorr)

Water- 3/4 cup, slightly warm

Corn flour- 1 tbs

Spring onions- 1/4 cup (greens and bulbs) + 2 tbs to garnish (just the greens)

Oil- 2 tbs

Marinate the chicken with the soy sauce, chilli pwd and little salt. Keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes.

In 3/4 cup warm water, dilute the stock cube. Add the cornflour. Mix well and keep aside

In a frying pan, heat the oil and sautee the shallots, garlic and ginger till soft and fragrant.

Add the marinated chicken pieces and pepper pwd and cook on high till the chicken changes colour.

Cover and cook on medium heat till they are cooked.

Once the water starts separating, open the lid, add the chicken stock , mix well and cook open on high flame till the gravy reduces to about half.

Add the spring onions and stir well. The chicken pieces should be well coated.

Garnish with the remaining spring onions before serving.

Notes: The chicken stock cube is really salty, so watch before you add more salt

Don't over cook the garlic and ginger. The sauce really emits a nice garlicky flavour

PS: I got myself a neat studio corner with efficient lighting and background. So now i dont need to worry about taking pics with table lamps and decor lights. I am still perfecting the art of shadow less lighting, diffuser etc. So pics are still a bit bleak. I however went ahead and clicked a few extra pics, just cos i was darn excited:)

Oh and the new DSLR adds to the quality of the pics..I'm loving the EOS 500D