Chilli Paneer Recipe, Dry Chilli Paneer Restaurant Style

Chilli Paneer is a perfect side dish for fried rice or veg noodles. Here is how to do a spicy chilli paneer recipe. This is a dry recipe. Traditionally, the paneer is deep fried. I have tried to avoid deep frying today. Its spicy, sweet, sour and all things nice.

A note when making chinese dishes.

Just like the veggie trinity mirepoix in western cooking, there is a holy trinity of veggies in Chinese cooking too! Its the combination of Ginger, Garlic and Scallions / Spring onions. Use them generously whenever you make chinese food!!!

Now lets talk about the flame. High heat is very important in chinese cooking. The chinese restaurants use heavy burners that can cook and slightly char the veggies and meat in seconds. Even though, we cannot replicate that at home, keep the flame of the gas stove to the maximum it will go. Cooking the veggies on high heat will give it a slight char and flavour that’s desirable.

For frying the Paneer cubes.
Cube the paneer and place it on a plate. Sprinkle salt, pepper and rice flour. Mix well to coat. I like to add rice flour as the paneer crisps and browns better with a rice flour coating.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the paneer till its golden. Use a fork to turnover the paneer cubes. Its easier to turn the paneer cubes with a fork than with a spatula. Once all the sides are golden, remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Heat oil in the same pan and add in the finely minced ginger and garlic. Add in the salt. Saute till the ginger and garlic slowly starts to turn color. Add in the diced onions and capsicum. Saute on a high flame so the onions and capsicum get charred here and there.

A Note on salt: We will adding a lot of sauces which already contain salt as an added ingredient. So go easy on the salt. 

Once the veggies are half cooked, which will take about 3-4 minutes, add in the soy sauce, chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, white pepper powder, vinegar and the sugar. Fry for a minute.

Take 1/2 cup of water and add in 1 teaspoon of corn starch / corn flour. Mix well to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the pan and mix well to combine. The mixture will immediately turn a little saucy. Add in the fried paneer and toss well to coat. Finish with a liberal sprinkling of chopped spring onions and remove from heat.

Serve hot.

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