Chilli paneer

Chilli paneer recipe – A restaurant style paneer chilli dry, semi-dry & gravy recipes with video & step by step photos. Chilli paneer is a popular Indo-Chinese starter made by seasoning fried Indian cottage cheese aka paneer in chilli sauce. In this post I have shared 3 versions to make the recipe – dry, semi-dry and gravy. We love the restaurant served Indo chinese foods. But I try to limit eating them out due to the MSG and large amount of sauces used. Most times I make them at home using the best possible ingredients and without MSG.

This recipe yields one of the best chilli paneer dry, semi-dry & gravy. It pairs so well with veg fried rice, schezwan fried rice & hakka noodles, & can also be served as a appetizer.

A slightly different version of this is the Paneer manchurian recipe. A dry version goes well as a starter. While a gravy version goes well as a side dish to veg fried rice, restaurant style hakka noodles or this easy veg noodles.

The recipe of chilli paneer is quite simple & easy even for beginners. Firstly paneer is coated in corn starch batter and fried until crisp.

Then a fresh chilli sauce is made by sauteing ingredients like garlic, capsicum and spring onions. Next red chili sauce, soya sauce and vinegar are added to make the sauce.

A slurry made of corn starch is added to thicken the chilli sauce. Lastly the crisp fried paneer bites are tossed in this yummy sauce.

In restaurants the entire seasoning is made in a Chinese wok on a very high flame which lends a unique smoky flavor. So it is hard to recreate the same flavors at home.

For more Paneer recipes check
Paneer tikka
Crispy paneer 65
Paneer cheese toast
Crispy paneer popcorn
Garlic paneer

Preparation for chilli paneer recipe

1. Add 3 tablespoons corn flour, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (maida, optional), 1/8 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder and 1/8 teaspoon pepper powder to a mixing bowl.

2. Pour 5 to 6 tablespoons water and make a batter that is neither too thick nor too thin. If the batter is too runny, it will not coat the paneer. Add more water only if needed. Check video for batter consistency. Restaurant style chilli paneer has a thick coating of batter.

3. Add 200 grams cubed paneer to the batter. Then coat them well with batter.

Alternative way: If you like, you can also marinate paneer with ½ tbsp chilli sauce, ¼ tbsp soya sauce and just add some dry flour to the paneer. It can be grilled, tawa fried, shallow fried or deep fried.

Frying paneer

4. Heat a pan with 3 to 4 tablespoons oil. Check if the oil is hot enough by adding a small portion of batter to the hot oil. It must rise up without browning. This is the correct heat.

5. Gently slide the paneer one by one spacing them apart in the oil. This prevents them from sticking to each other. Fry them on a medium high flame. Important: Spread them in the pan while frying else they stick to each other.

5. Stir well and fry evenly until golden. You may not get the golden color if you have not used chili sauce or chilli powder.

6. Drain them on a kitchen tissue or colander.

How to make chilli paneer

7. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same pan. Or remove the excess oil from the pan and retain 1 tablespoon in it. Add 1 tablespoon garlic and saute until they smell good.

8. Switch the flame to high. Add cubed onions, spring onions greens, capsicum, sliced and deseeded chilli. Saute on a high flame till they are slightly cooked but still crunchy. While the veggies fry, go ahead to the next step.

9. For the restaurant style dry chilli paneer with glossy look – Add 1 tsp of corn flour with half cup water to a bowl. Stir well and set aside.

For a healthier version, you can even skip using corn flour like the way I did. The smooth feel of sauce and the glaze will be missing.

If you want to make the gravy version scroll down to step 15

10. Once the veggies are fried for a minute, pour 1 tablespoon soya sauce, ½ to 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 to 2 tablespoons red chilli sauce or green chilli sauce, 2 tbsps tomato ketchup and ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional) or paste.

11. Stir the corn flour mixture we made earlier with a spoon and pour it to the pan. If you are trying to reduce corn starch in your foods then just add 3 tbsps water here instead of corn flour slurry.

Red chilli sauce has some starch in it. So that will be enough to coat the paneer.

Then allow the sauces to bubble and thicken as well. Taste the sauce and add more salt & sauces if needed. Turn off the stove and let the sauce cool down a bit.

14. Next add ¼ teaspoon pepper powder, fried paneer, 2 tablespoons spring onion greens. If you have not used any corn slurry for the sauce then toss on a high flame for 1 to 2 minutes to bring a smoky aroma.

Garnish chilli paneer with spring onions. This picture is when I made it without cornstarch for sauce.

This one is with 1 tsp corn starch and half cup water. This is from the video.

Chilli paneer gravy

This gravy version is the same I make for chilli chicken.

15. In a small bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons chilli sauce, 2 tablespoons soya sauce, 3 tablespoons ketchup. Mix together 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 1 cup water to make a slurry. Stir well to break any lumps.

16. After sauteeing the bell peppers and onions for 2 minutes, pour sauces. Turn the flame to low, and then stir the corn slurry in the bowl with a spoon. Pour it slowly to the pan and give a good mix.

17.When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, taste test it and add half teaspoon black pepper. Add more sauces or salt as desired. If the mixture turns too thick, then pour some hot water and stir. When the sauce is ready turn off the heat.

Cool down a bit and then add the crisp fried paneer and give a good stir. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

Here are some tips which will help you make the best chilli paneer at home.

Tips to make chilli paneer

1. Paneer can be shallow fried, grilled or deep fried.
2. Avoid over frying paneer especially on a low flame as it tends to turn hard & chewy.
3. Do not use lot of chilli powder in the recipe as it totally alters the taste. Instead use a red chilli paste made of soaked red chilies.
4. You can use any chilli sauce that you prefer just adjust the quantity to suit your taste.
5. To make chilli paneer gravy, you can double or triple the amount of corn starch & water in the chilli paneer recipe.
6. If you add more corn starch, then you will also need to add a proportionate amount of garlic, soya sauce, chilli sauce, pepper, salt, sugar and vinegar.
7. 2 tsp corn starch for every 1 cup of water gives me the right consistency.
8. Adding too much water to the sauce will over cook onions & capsicum making them soggy. So use additional water with caution.
9. Next too much corn flour and not enough water will not yield a good tasting sauce. The corn starch turns too thick and tastes starchy.

Tips to limit refined flour

If you are a health nut like me and prefer to limit refined flour, then here are the tips I follow

1. Skip all-purpose flour or maida from the recipe completely. Use wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour to make the batter.
2. Sometimes I totally skip the corn starch for the sauce and just pour 3 to 4 tbsps water. As red chilli sauce already has some starch in it, adding water thins it down and helps to coat the paneer well. I have followed the same in the step by step photo method.
3. Other option is to just replace corn starch (for sauce) with arrowroot powder.
4. Always choose naturally brewed or organic soya sauce.
5. Check the labels before you buy the red chilli sauce. Avoid those having msg & colors.
6. Use organic apple cider vinegar.

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