Chilli Paneer is an amazing Indian paneer starter dish. Just like every other Indian, I love Indo-Chinese food. Deep fried goodness in a creamy sauce or coated in thick, spicy gravy – what’s not to like! I even like the calories that come with it, I am very impartial that way! This Chilli Paneer recipe is one that was born of urgency and necessity. I prefer a dry version of chilli paneer than the kind with gravy so chose to go with that. If you want to make chilli paneer with gravy, I have given options to do that below.
I make Gobi Manchurian quite often but paneer usually gets made into Palak Paneer or Paneer Butter Masala and hardly ever an Indo-Chinese recipe, that too an appetizer. But it happened on the last day in our previous apartment. I was clearing out the fridge and realised I have a few cubes of paneer left which had to be made into something real soon or they’d die. No self-respecting Indian can kill paneer, trust me!
So the paneer pieces turned into a lovely plate of dry chilli paneer recipe that gave some well-needed energy to TH and me to resume last-minute packing in full vigour.
Chilli Paneer Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups cubed paneer I used longer slices
- 1 bell pepper / capsicum
- 2 large onions
- 4 green chillies slit
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste use freshly ground paste if possible
- 1 tbsp soya sauce
- 1 tsp green chilli sauce
- 1 tsp tomato paste / ketchup
- 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour + 3 tbsp water make a smooth paste
- Salt to taste
For the Marinade:
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp corn flour / corn starch
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- A pinch of salt
- Water
Instructions
- Make a semi-thick paste with the ingredients for marinade.
- Dunk the paneer pieces in and let them soak in the marinade.
- Add 3-4 tbsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the paneer pieces, turning them over when the sides are brown.
- Drain and set aside.
- In the same pan, add chopped onions, green chillies, and capsicum.
- Cook until the onions turn transparent, about 2-3 mins.
- Next, turn the flame to high and add soya sauce, green chilli sauce, ginger garlic paste, sugar and tomato paste.
- Stir-fry on high for about 30 seconds until well blended and turn the flame to medium-low.
- Add the fried paneer cubes and the cornflour-water paste. Taste and adjust salt (since the sauces will have salt).
- Stir and cook for another 3-4 mins until the sauce comes around and thickens due to the cornflour.
- Serve Chilli Paneer steaming hot as an appetiser
How to make dry Chilli Paneer Recipe:
For dry Chilli Paneer recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, please use the Google Translate button on the top right of this website.
This came out fantastic! Thank you so much..and I love all your recipes. Keep up the good work!
Hi, I made it for my wife last night and she loved it….Thnx for posting this easy recipe
Hi I love yr recipes they turn out so so yummy. Thank you so much sharing this with everyone….xx
Made it for my Chinese n Malaysian friends , here at United Kingdom …, they simply loved it… They had nevr heard of Indian chinese before, so wantd to show off… Ur recipe made my day… Thanx a lot…Mad- Scot
that's so awesome! indo chinese recipes are always a sure-win, trust me 😉
Thanks , NAgs ! good recipe .. mine too came out looking similar to yours . Hope that it taste equally good too . By the way did to forget to mention when to add ginger-garlic paste ?
with regards
Rajani
good catch 🙂 i have update the ginger garlic paste in the chilli paneer recipe
thanks for the yummy recipe tried it out today it came out really well,yesterday i was a bit disappointed with the soya chunks recipe but today's dish made it up for that… thank you:D
thanks for not giving up on my recipes 🙂 glad you liked the chilli paneer! try the paneer butter masala. guaranteed you would love it!
IT WAS AWESOME !!!!!!
Nags.. I tried this one too… You are a Paneer dishes Master I say 🙂 Thanks again
yeah paneer recipes work out well for some reason 🙂 thanks for leaving a note to let me know 🙂
So I have to say, my dad came across your page and the result is he's currently slaving over the dish in the kitchen! Anyhow, just wanted to let you know I think you write very well (you're pretty funny) and I do like pictures you've taken of all the dishes. Great work!
aww that's so sweet! hope your dad liked how the chilli paneer recipe turned out 🙂
it was a good dish