Chilli Paneer (Dry)

My 110th recipe, "Chilli Paneer (Dry)", a wonderful appetizer from the Indo Chinese cuisine. Paneer tossed in delicious Asian sauced until dry and succulent.

Indo Chinese cuisine is the adaptation of Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques to Indian tastes through a larger offering of vegetarian dishes. It was basically developed by the Chinese community that settled down in the Eastern states of India. With an enormous number of mouth watering vegetarian dishes, it is one among my very favorite cuisines.

There was a time in my life when I would place an order in a restaurant without any second thoughts and even without looking at the menu. It would be always Butter Naan and Paneer Butter Masala. That is basically because I love Paneer so much. How would it be when both my loves combine ? It would be surely a party in my mouth. That is exactly what Chilli Paneer brings to the table.

Soft Paneer cooked in the best of Indo Chinese sauces and flavors. I absolutely loved it when I tried it for the first time at the Paradise Restaurant here in US. While I have happily eaten it multiple times at the restaurant, only recently I decided to give it a try in my kitchen. Ever since, I never had to return to the restaurant again to have my favorite Chilli Paneer 😉

Chilli Paneer (Dry)

Chilli Paneer

Revathi Palani

Chilli Paneer is a wonderful appetizer from the Indo Chinese cuisine. Soft Paneer cooked in the best of Indo Chinese sauces and flavors.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Indian

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• Oil - 1 Tbsp
• Onion - 1 Medium (Cubed)
• Capsicum - ½ Medium (Cubed)
• Sugar - a large pinch
• Salt - a pinch (Adjust as needed)
• Spring onion - 3 (Finely chopped)

For fried paneer

• Paneer - 7oz (½ Packet)
• All purpose flour/Maida - 1 ½ Tbsp
• Corn flour - 1 ½ Tbsp
• Salt - ¼ tsp (Adjust as needed)
• Oil - For frying

For Chilli garlic sauce mixture

• Oil - 1 Tbsp
• Garlic - 1 ½ Tbsp (Finely chopped)
• Ginger - 1 ½ Tbsp (Finely chopped)
• Asian hot sauce (Sriracha) - 1 tsp
• Tomato ketchup - 1 Tbsp
• Crushed red pepper/Chilli flakes - ½ tsp
• Fresh ground black pepper - ¼ tsp
• Soya sauce - 4 drops
• Salt - A large pinch (Adjust as needed)

Instructions

 

• First cut the paneer into smaller cubes and let it sit in hot water for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile take a mixing bowl add the all purpose and corn flours, Salt and required amount of water (about 3 Tbsp) mix well to get a thin paste.
  
   
• Now remove the paneer from water and add to the prepared batter and mix in such a way that the batter gets coated evenly over the paneer cubes. Keep aside and let it rest for 3 minutes.
  
   
• Meanwhile heat the oil for frying. Fry the batter coated paneer in batches until golden brown. Drain the excess oil on a paper napkin.
  
   
• Now will move on to the chilli garlic sauce mixture for chilli paneer. Heat a pan with oil, add the garlic, ginger and saute until they are golden brown. Turn the flame to low-medium. Now add the other ingredients listed under "For chilli garlic sauce mixture" in given order and saute until the mixture becomes slightly thick and starts to ooze out the oil. Turn off the flame and keep aside.
  
   
  
   
• Now heat a large pan / wok with oil, add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the capsicum, salt, sugar and saute for a minute. Follow it by the prepared sauce mixture and give a stir until well combined.
  
   
• Finally, add the fried paneer and toss until they are well combined with the mixture. Add the chopped spring onion give a quick toss and turn off the flame. Transfer to the serving plate.
  
   
  
  
• Enjoy hot as an appetizer.

Notes | FAQ

- Soaking paneer in hot water is purely optional. It is needed to soften the paneer. In case of using home made paneer you can skip that step.

- The batter should not be too thin or thick. It should get coated over the paneer, but it should not be a thick coating.

- You can shallow or deep fry the paneer.

- Do adjust the spiceness (Hot sauce, Black pepper, Chilli flakes) according to your comfort level. The quantity mentioned is for a spicy version.

- Do adjust the salt according to your taste keeping in mind that the sauces added have salt in them.