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.
I recently stumbled upon your blog and I absolutely love your recipes. I'm so glad you didnt use yogurt for marinade, cuz almost all other recipes online do, and paneer always turns up sour. So I'm planning on making chili paneer and paneer rolls tonight and I'll let you know how it goes! (I'm pretty sure they'll turn out Awesome) 🙂
Thanks for such simple explanation , it cant get easier than this, so simple…. Thanks Rags
the marinade turned to a bogey colour when in the frying pan :
thank you so much for the very kind words 🙂 glad you like indo chinese recipes. chilli paneer is one of my favourites
Made this twice now – we LOVE it! I have always wanted to learn indo chinese – thanks so much! I double the quantity for the sauce usually since we like more sauce. Now feeling confident to invite guests and try it for them.
I made recipe of paneer chillie after viewing it My husband liked it very much
Hi,
I luv good taste and when it comes with so rich colors, I could not fight the temptation to try it, and I end up eating extra.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for the lovely words Sheryl. So glad you liked the Indo Chinese Recipe – Chilli Paneer!
Hey Nags..
I have tried a few of your recipes and have loved them.. Your how-i-did-it method has made me fall in love with cooking and am grateful to you! Your pictures make a recipe even more inviting and makes me want to get up from lazying around n trying it 🙂
This recipe was yummilicious and easy to cook..
Thanks a lot!
I mean all purpose flour, Jules.