Chilli Paneer is an Indo-Chinese recipe which is quite popular in India. It is a mix of sweet, sour & spicy flavors of different sauces and vinegars along with the crunchiness of veggies.I am not a very big fan of Chinese cuisine but being a cooking passionate, I love to try different recipes.I wonder if this kind of tangy spicy chilli paneer or any such non- vegetarian recipe is at all cooked in China because this is desi version with lots of spices and tadka.There are two versions of chilli paneer – Dry Chilli paneer & Chilli paneer with gravy. Dry version is often served standalone as an appetizer or a starter and the gravy version is served as a main course with fried rice or chilli garlic Noodles, hakka noodles etc.Here, I am sharing the recipe for a semi dry version of chilli paneer which can be eaten with rice or as a snack both. This is a preservative & MSG free recipe which is super easy to make at home & super delicious at the same time.

🍴 Time to Prep        30 minutes

⏰Time to cook         15 minutes

🍛 Servings               4 servings

👩 Author                 Ruchika

🍲 Cuisine                Indo-Chinese  

♨ Course                 Appetizer/Snacks

Ingredients:

For frying paneer:

• 300 gms cottage cheese cubes (paneer)
• 1/4 tablespoon black pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder
• 5 tablespoon corn flour or maida
• Water as required to make a semi-liquid batter
• Oil to shallow fry the paneer cubes

For making sauce or a semi liquid gravy:

• 1 medium sized onions (separated & cut into square slices)
• 1 medium sliced capsicum (cut into square slices)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 1 tablespoon green chilli sauce
• 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• Water to make a thick gravy or sauce
• Oil for sautéing veggies
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon corn flour
• 1/2 tablespoon water to make corn flour solution

Notes & points to follow:

• To make the chilli paneer, chop the vegetables & paneer beforehand as everything has to cooked on a high flame to retain the crunchiness. Hence, if we cut the veggies in between, it will make the other ingredients burn due to high heat.
• Keep the salt content a little less than your orginal taste, as the sauces like soy sauce & chilli sauce already have a good amoun of salt content.
• Do not overcook the vegetables, as we need to keep their crunchiness.
• Use spring onions to it as well for sautéing and garnishing. But, I somehow could not get it in this season so skipped it and used regular onions.
• You can deep fry or shallow fry the paneer as per your choice.
• You can imcrease or decrease the quantity of soy sauce, chilli sauce, black pepper & vinegar as per your choice and taste.

Recipe:

To fry paneer cubes:
1. Take  5 tablespoon corn flour in a mixing bowl. Add 1/4 tablespoon blackpepper powder, 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste, 1 tablespoon kashmiri red, salt to taste and mix everythig well.

2. Gradually add water and mix to avoid lumps. Make a batter of semi liquid consistency so that the paneer cubes are well coated.

3. Cut paneer into medium sized cubes and dip into the batter. Coat the cubes well and uniformly.

4. Now, heat oil in a kadhai and slowly drop the coated paneer cubes in the oil to shallow fry. Keep flipping the paneer cubes to avoid burning. Do not overcook the paneer otherwise it will lose its softness and will turn hard and chewy. Keep the flame low while frying.

6. Once the cubes turn golden brown from all thesides, take off from the kadhai and keep on a paper napkin to strain excess oil.
For making sauce:1.Heat oil in a kadhai. One the oil is hot, add finely chopped garlic & green chillies. Cook for a few seconds to remove the rawness. Immediately add sliced onion cubes and stir. Do not overcook as we need the onions to be crunchy.

2. Now, add sliced capsicum and cook for a minte at a high flame. Keep stirring to avoid burning.

3. Add, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and stir well.

4. Add 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup, vinegar, green chilli sauce, salt & kashmiri red chilli powder and cook for a minute.

5. Now, add corn flour slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon corn flour & 1 tablespoon water.

6. Add water as required to make a little gravy and mix well. Turn of the heat once the sauces & veggies are well combined.

7. Serve hot and enjoy it as a snack, starter or may be with fried rice as it is a semi gravy version.