Dry Chilli Paneer

- Submitted by Rani

Chili Paneer is a tasty Indo Chinese dish that is popular in restaurants in India. It can be served as a starter or as a side dish. Vegetarans and non-veg eaters will love this dish. This can be easily made at home with no MSG, which makes it healthier than the restaurant ones. Both my kids enjoy this so much.

Paneer pieces as such doesn't have mcuh flavour. In this recipe, the paneer pieces are first coated with a corn flour batter and deep fried. It is then mixed with the classic chili sauce which is made  with crunchy onions, capsicum slices and a blend of chinese sauces. The final dish is delcious and will disappear in minutes.

Let's learn the steps to make this flavourful Chili Paneer noe.

Recipe For Chilli Paneer

Preparation time: 15 minutes 
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Paneer - 200 gms
• Oil - for frying

For Batter

• Corn flour - 2 tbsp
• All Purpose Flour (Maida) - 1 tbsp
• Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Water - little to form as a paste
• Salt -1/2 tsp

For Sauce

• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Ginger (finely mined) - 1 tbsp
• Garlic (finely minced) -1 tbsp
• Green chilli - 1 (minced)
• Onion - 1/4 cup (sliced)
• Colored Peppers (Red or green or yellow) - 1/2 cup (sliced)
• Chilli flakes -1 tsp
• Soy sauce -1 tbsp
• Chili Garlic Sauce - 1 tbsp
• Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp
• Lime juice (or vineger) - 2 tsp
• Corn Flour (Starch) - 1 tsp
• Water - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients listed under 'For Batter' and form a medium thick paste. Now add the paneer pieces to the mixture and toss well to coat nicely.
2. Fry the paneer pieces in oil and keep aside. (You can skip the above 2 steps if the paneer is very fresh. Frying enhances the flavour considerably.)
3. Take a pan and heat some oil. Add minced garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute for a minute.
4. Add sliced onions and capsicum. Saute a little.
5. Now add the sauces - soya sauce, chili-garlic sauce, tomato sauce and lemon juice. 
6. Mix the corn flour with water and add to the sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes till the sauce becomes thick.
7. Now add the fried paneer pieces to this mixture and saute for 2 mins.
8. Yummy dry chilli paneer is ready.

Detailed Steps to make Chili Paneer

Take the corn flour, maida, salt and red chili powder in a bowl.

Add water little by little and mix to form a medium thick paste. 

Now mix the paneer pieces with this.

Heat oil in a kadai and fry the paneer pieces. 

Drain excess oil in a kitchen towel and keep aside.

Mix all the soya sauce, tomato sauce, lemon juice and chili-garlic sauce in a bowl and keep it ready.

Now let's prepare the sauce. Heat some oil in a pan and add minced garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute for a minute.

Add sliced onions and capsicum and saute for 3-4 minutes. The vegetables should be partially cooked but not loose its crunch.

Next add the sauces that we had mixed. 

Also, mix the corn flour with water and add to the sauce. Cook for about 3 minutes till the sauce becomes thick.

Now add the fried paneer pieces to the sauce. 

Saute for couple of minutes so that the sauce coats the paneer pieces well.

Tasty chili paneer is ready to enjoy.

Serving Chili Paneer

• As I mentioned above, Chili Paneer tastes great as such. So it is often served as a starter.
• Other than that it can be served as side dish with egg fried rice, veg fried rice, hakka noodles, chapathi etc.
• I have used it to make Paneer wraps for lunchbox many days. It tastes great. 

Variation

• As can be guessed, Paneer can always be replaced by tofu in all recipes. The picture below is that of Chili Tofu. 
• Instead of frying the paneer (or tofu) pieces first before coating with the sauces, you can add them directly to the sauce. It may not have the crunchy texture as the fried one but this variation tastes good too. It saves so much time and calories. The below picture of Chili Tofu is made without frying the tofu pieces.

More Paneer Recipes

Paneer Paratha	Paneer Bhurji	Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani)	Chilli Paneer Toast Sandwich
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