Chilli Paneer – an Indo Chinese starter … favorite pick for many vegetarians at the restaurants. We at home love indo chinese food of any type.. but unfortunately restaurants here don’t have good indo chinese food..had to make it myself and enjoy. I have tried a many versions playing with sauces of different kind trying to avoid msg… and this one is far better than what we get in restaurants here, try it once and judge it for yourself!
Our page has many Indo Chinese dishes… some veg starters
Ingredients – 1
- Paneer – 10 cubes
- Onion – 1 cup (big dice)
- Green Capsicum – 1/2 cup (big dice)
- Red Capsicum – 1/2 cup (big dice)
- Green chili – 3 (slit open)
- Ginger – 1 tablespoon (minced)
- Garlic – 1 tablespoon (minced)
- Spring onion – 1/2 cup (chopped)
- Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
- Black pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Sugar – a pinch (brown or white)
- Sweet cooking /Rice seasoning wine – 1/2 teaspoon (optional) / use vinegar instead
- Oil – 2 tablespoons
Ingredients – 2 (sauce mix)
- Dark Soy Sauce – 1 tablespoon
- Red Chilli Sauce – 2 tablespoons
- Ketchup – 1 tablespoon
- Brown sugar – 1/4 teaspoon
Ingredients – 3 (to coat paneer)
- Corn starch – 1 tablespoon
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Red Chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon + extra if preferred spicy
- Black pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
- Water – 2 tablespoons
- Oil – 2 tablespoons
Lets see how to make this Chilli Paneer…
Mix paneer cubes with all these ingredients from table- 3 (Cornstarch, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder, salt and water.
Coat them well and set aside for few minutes.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and fry the paneer pieces for few minutes to brown them a little bit.
Do not fry the paneer for a long time… just brown the corners a little bit and remove from pan and set aside.
For the second part prep work… chop the onion, green red capsicum into big dices. Mince the ginger, garlic, slit open green chilli, chop the spring onions. One main ingredient that make the dish super rtasty is the rice seasoning… a few drops can this dish extra special, so try to get it. (If you cant find then use few drops of vinegar instead) For the sauce mix (dark soy sauce, red chili sauce, ketchup and brown sugar) mix this and keep it ready. Brown sugar gives a dark tinge to the sauce… highly recommend that!
Heat oil in a pan.. the entire process has to be over high flame cooking. Saute the onions, green chilies, ginger and garlic over high flame for few seconds..
Add in the green and red capsicum along with pinch of sugar and salt. Saute over high flame… only for few seconds, we need to keep them crisp and the color intact.
Add in fried paneer along with the sauce mix. Saute over high flame for couple of minutes… the sauce will coat the veggie and paneer.
As such its all done and with little spring onion garnish you can very well finish at this stage.. to keep it a dry.
This is optional…mix a little red chilli powder along with little corn starch and water.
Add this the mixture to make it extra spicy and little extra saucy.
Garnish with spring onions and switch off!!
Notes
- Serves 3 to 4
- Adding chili powder is optional but makes it real spicy and gives good color.
- I’ve added Ching’s brand dark soy sauce and red chilli sauce.
Some non veg Indo Chinese dishes to try…
