Chilli Paneer Recipe | Dry Chilli Paneer Recipe | Step by Step

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 they turned into a lovely plate of chilli paneer that gave some well-needed energy to TH and me to resume last-minute packing in full vigor.

Chilli Paneer Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients for Chilli Paneer:
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 + 3tbsp 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

How to make Chilli Paneer:

1. Make a thick-ish paste with the ingredients for marinade. Dunk the paneer pieces in and let them soak in the marinade. It will be instant love, I promise.

2. Add 3-4 tbsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the paneer pieces, turning them over when the cooked sides are brown.

3. Drain and set aside. Its okay to slightly burn a few sides, especially when you are packing to move out of your apartment!

4. In the same pan, add chopped onions, green chillies, and capsicum. Cook until the onions turn transparent - 2-3 mins.

5. 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.

6. 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 appetizer! The dry version is  great as an appetizer and the gravy version of Chilli Paneer can be served with fried rice.

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