Chilli paneer (चिल्ली पनीर) tops the list when it comes to cook an Indo-Chinese dish. Chilli Paneer is a scrumptious recipe. Paneer, or Indian cottage cheese, is coated with a batter. Corn flour is the main ingredient in this batter. The coated Paneer is then shallow fried until crisp. These paneer pieces are then tossed in a spicy sauce mixture, along with bell peppers. I am excited to share my restaurant style Chilli Paneer recipe to try at home today.
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What is chilli paneer
Chilli paneer is a popular Indo Chinese starter. It is prepared by tossing fried Indian cottage cheese (paneer) in chilli sauce. This is done along with capsicum (or bell peppers). By the word, chilli means it is spicy. However, it’s not spicy like hot, an attribute of red chilli. Instead, it’s tangy hot. The tangy heat originates from combining chilli sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, and soy sauce. In British English, it is also spelled as soya sauce.
Chill paneer is one such dish which can be used as starter as well as mains. For starters chilli paneer is normally kept dry and for main course, chilli paneer is made with little gravy. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules and one can eat as they wish 🙂
Most of the times I am left with paneer at home. When I don’t feel like having a proper three course meal, I end up making this chilli paneer. It goes as a charm. You can replace Paneer with Tofu for a vegan version of chilli paneer.
How to Make restaurant Style Chilli Paneer at home
There are few keys things to keep in mind for a good chilli paneer.
- Use sesame oil: Using sesame oil for tossing paneer to get the best taste to chilli paneer.
- Cook on high heat: Cook the veggies with paneer on a high heat to maintain the crunchiness of your veggies. Reduce heat only when adding sauces.
- Prepare everything before starting cooking: Cooking is done on high heat. Make sure all cutting and chopping is done beforehand. Have all ingredients ready at hand. You do not want to reduce heat to go away and hunt for ingredients.
Method for making Restaurant Style Chilli Paneer
- Take a mixing bowl. Put 2 tablespoons of cornflour, plain flour, salt, and pepper powder. Add water and mix it to form a light batter without lumps.
- Add the paneer cubes to this and mix well to coat. Now heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Shallow fry the paneer pieces until they are light golden in colour. Drain them onto a kitchen towel to soak excess oil.
- Now in the same pan, add one tablespoon oil and when it’s warm add ginger and garlic paste. Saute until the raw smell goes off.
- Add cubed capsicum and onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes. They should become a bit soft yet remain crunchy at the same time. Add soy sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, salt and black pepper. Mix it and sauté.
- Take 1/4 cup of water and add 1 tablespoon of cornflour to it and make a thin paste. Gently pour this into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes with sautéing in between.
- Add the paneer pieces and sauté for 1 minute and then turn off the flame.
- Garnish with slit chillies and serve hot.
You may also like to try out these other variants of Indo-Chinese recipes:
Serving suggestion for chilli paneer
If you are making dry chilli paneer, then it goes on its own. However, the semi-dry gravy version of chilli paneer goes well with noodles or fried rice.
Common mistakes while making chilli paneer
- My paneer is very chewy: Paneer becomes very chewy if it is fried for too long. It can also happen if paneer is fried on a low flame.
- My vegetables are not crunchy: The likely cause is that the veggies were sautéed for too long. Cooking on low heat also leads to soft vegetables.
Below is the step by step recipe of making Restaurant style Chilli Paneer at home.
Recipe Card
Chilli Paneer
Ingredients
- 500 Grams Paneer Cut into small cubes
- 3 Tablespoon Cornflour
- 1.5 Tablespoon All Purpose Flour/ Maida
- 3 Bell Pepper Cut into cubes
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Chopped
- 1/3 Teaspoon Black pepper powder
- Salt As Per Taste
- 3 Tablespoon Oil
- 1.5 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 Tablespoon Soyasouce
- 1/3 Tablespoon Red Chilli Souce
- 1/2 Tablespoon White Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
- 2 Green chillies Slit
- 1 Onion Cut into Cubes
Instructions
- Take a mixing bowl and Put 2 tablespoon of cornflour, plain flour, salt, pepper powder, and water and mix it to form a light batter without lumps.
- Add the paneer cubes to this and mix well to coat. Now heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the paneer pieces until they are light golden in colour. Drain them onto a kitchen towel to soak excess oil.
- Now in the same pan, add one tablespoon oil and when it’s warm add ginger and garlic paste. Saute until the raw smell goes off.
- Now add cubed capsicum and onion, and cook for 3-4 mins until the they turn a bit soft and crunchy on same time. Add soy sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, salt and black pepper. Mix it and sauté.
- Take 1/4 cup of water and add 1 tablespoon of cornflour to it and make a thin paste. Gently pour this into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes with sautéing in between.
- Add the paneer pieces and sauté for 1 minute and then turn off the flame.
- Garnish with slit chillies and serve hot.
Notes
- The gravy thickens once cooled so don’t cook much after adding paneer.
- You can adjust the sweetness and tanginess as per your taste by adjusting the amount of vinegar, chill sauce and ketchup.