I love Desi Chinese and Chilli Paneer is one of my favourite things to order. This restaurant style chili paneer version is as good as your favorite takeaway. I usually like my chilli paneer in a semi gravy. The special part about this chilli paneer recipe is that we make the chilli paste from scratch. That’s what lends it an amazing array of flavours.
This chilli paneer recipe comes together in 15 minutes. Everything needs to be kept ready before you fry everything in the wok. The only hard work that needs to be done is frying the paneer pieces in batches, till they are super crispy and flavourful from the outside, yet soft from the inside. Make the chilli paste, vegetables (onions and bell peppers) ready before you cook the chilli paneer as it all happens really quick once the paneer cubes are fried.
I hope you try this recipe and make for yourself this weekend. I am sure you are going to love it!
Preparation time – 30 minutes
Cook time – 15 minutes
Serves – 5
Ingredients
- 350 g paneer, cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup corn flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour(maida)
- 2 cups red onions (chopped)
- 1 cup red bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 cup yellow bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 cup green capsicum (chopped)
- 4 dried red chillies
- 20 g ginger
- 15 g garlic
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 cup hot water
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder (for the batter)
- 1 tsp black pepper powder (for the final gravy)
- Spring onion greens for garnish
- Sesame seeds for garnish
Directions
- Soak dried red chilies in hot water for three hours. Once soft, grind them with the ginger and garlic. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the corn flour and all purpose flour together. Season with salt and half teaspoon of black pepper powder. Mix well. Now keep adding water till you get a batter with a smooth consistency. Don’t keep it too thick.
- Add the paneer cubes to the batter in two batches and mix them till they are completely submerged in it.
- Heat oil in a wok. Once it gets hot, take out the paneer cubes one by one, dripping off all the excess batter, and fry them till they are golden brown from all sides. Fry the paneer in batches so that they crisp uniformly and the wok does not get overcrowded. Once all the paneer cubes are fried, set them aside for later.
- In the same pan add the chilli paste and fry on high heat till they release its rawness.
- Add the onions and the bell peppers and toss everything on high heat for a minute.
- Season with salt and pepper and give everything a good mix.
- Pour dark soy sauce and vinegar and toss everything well.
- Add the left over flour batter, along with half a cup of hot water and mix everything well. Add the fried paneer and toss it till it soaks all the flavours from the sauce. Once done, turn the flame off. If you want more gravy, you can add some more hot water at this point and cook it till it thickens.
- Serve on a plate with some garnish of fresh green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
I hope you try this chilli paneer recipe super soon! If you have any doubts, comments, or feedback, please reach out to me in comments or my social media handles.
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Happy cooking!
