Chilli Paneer Recipe (Spicy Indo Chinese Style) (2024)

Chilli Paneer is one of the most popular recipes in Indo-Chinese cuisine. It is simply flour or batter coated fried paneer cubes tossed in a spicy, salty, tangy and sweet sauce made with green bell peppers, garlic, ginger, green chillies, soy sauce and more seasonings. There are three primary ways of making it, including dry, semi dry or gravy versions. In this post I am sharing the semi-dry (restaurant style) version alongside step-by-step photos and video.

What is Chilli Paneer

Chilli Paneer is a vegetarian version of Chilli Chicken and has become one of the most sought after dishes in Indo-Chinese cuisine. I have been told that it tastes similar to General Tso’s recipe, though it is made with Indian cottage cheese instead of tofu.

In a typical Chilli Paneer recipe, the paneer cubes are coated with either a thin dusting of flour or are batter coated prior to being fried. The fried cheese cubes are then tossed in a sweet, sour and spicy sauce that is, as the Americans say, “finger-licking good.”

Chilli Paneer can be served in one of three ways:

1. The dry version of chilli paneer is served as a starter.
2. The gravy version is usually served with steamed rice or noodles.
3. The semi-dry version can be enjoyed as either an appetizer or entrée, and in my opinion is the most authentic restaurant-style taste and flavor of the three.

This chilli paneer recipe is awesome for serving with noodles or fried rice, naan or roti.

Step-by-Step Guide

How to Make Chilli Paneer

Prep and Fry Paneer

1. In a bowl take 2 tablespoons cornstarch and3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (maida).

2. Next add ½ teaspoon ginger paste and ½ teaspoon garlic paste.

3. Add ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper or black pepper powder and ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder. Season with salt to taste.

4. Next add ¼ cup water or add as required. With a wired whisk or a spoon mix very well to get a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter is of medium consistency.

5. Add paneer cubes in the batter. With a spoon, gently coat the paneer cubes with the batter.

1. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy frying pan or skillet. I have pan fried the paneer cubes. You can also deep fry them.

Let the oil become hot and then place the batter coated paneer cubes in the oil. Fry on medium-heat.

2. Once one side is done, flip it and fry the other side. Flip a couple of times and fry till the paneer cubes are crisp and golden.

Be sure not to overcook them as the paneer cubes can become chewy.

3. Remove the fried paneer cubes and place them on kitchen paper towels for the extra oil to be absorbed.

Make Chilli Sauce

1. In the same pan, there will be some oil left, so there is no need to add any extra oil.

Add 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger, 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic and 2 to 3 green chillies (slit or sliced).

2. Stir fry on medium to high heat for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.

3. Then add ⅓ cup chopped spring onions (scallions). Stir fry spring onions for 1 to 2 minutes on medium to high heat.

4. Next add ½ cup sliced capsicum.

6. Stir fry on medium to high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. The capsicum only needs to slightly cooked.

7. Lower the heat and then add ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder or sweet paprika.

8. Then add 2 teaspoons soy sauce.

9. Next add 1 teaspoon red chilli sauce. The red chilli sauce has to be spicy.

10. Stir and mix the sauces and red chilli powder with the remaining stir fried ingredients.

11. Add ½ to⅔ cup water.

12. Mix well.

13. Let the chilli sauce mixture come to a simmer on medium to medium-high heat.

Make Chilli Paneer

14. Take 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small bowl.

15. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water for dissolving corn starch into a slurry or paste. (Cornstarch is known as cornflour in India.)

16. Mix very well to get a fine and smooth paste without any small lumps.

See Also

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17. Lower the heat and then add the slurry or paste to the sauce.

18. As soon as you add, mix the pan ingredients very well so that no lumps are formed.

19. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar to taste.

20. Season with salt to taste. Be sure to taste the sauce first as soy sauce and red chilli sauce already have salt in them.

21. Mix very well and simmer till the sauce has slightly thickened and the cornstarch has cooked.

You can check the taste and you should not feel any raw floury taste coming from the cornstarch.

22. Add the fried paneer cubes.

23. Mix paneer cubes very well with the gravy.

24. Turn off the heat and then add ¼ to ½ teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar. You can skip vinegar if you want, but the slight bit of tang really makes the dish taste nice.

25. Then add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped spring onions greens.Mix very well.

Check the taste and if you want, you can add more soy sauce, chilli sauce, salt, black pepper or sugar.

26. Serve restaurant style Chilli Paneer garnished with some spring onions. You can serve it with any Chinese style stir fried rice or noodles recipe.

Serving Suggestions

Chilli Paneer goes well as a side dish with rice varieties like Fried Rice, Szechuan Fried Rice or Burnt Garlic Fried Rice and noodles like Hakka Noodles and Vegetable Noodles.

It also pairs well as a side dish with veg pulao, jeera Rice or ghee Rice. You can also have it with tandoori roti, naan, paratha, chapati or roomali roti.

You can even have it as an appetizer snack with any sweet, salty and spicy dipping sauce.

Expert Tips

1. Paneer: Use Homemade Paneer for best results. If using frozen paneer, then soak it in hot water for a few minutes prior to cooking. Drain the water and pat dry the paneer before mixing with the batter.
2. Soy Sauce: If possible, use naturally fermented soy sauce. If you are gluten free, swap in tamari or coconut aminos. Bragg’s liquid aminos are also an acceptable substitute.
3. Spring Onions: If you do not have spring onions (also known as scallions), you can use shallots or regular onions.
4. Flours: Normally in restaurants, both cornflour and all-purpose flour are used to make the batter for frying paneer. You can opt to use whole wheat flour or rice flour instead of the all purpose flour. In place of cornstarch, you can use potato starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot flour.
5. Spicing:You can add the amount of soy sauce, red chilli sauce, green chillies, black pepper, sugar and vinegar to your liking. I think the ratio in the Chilli Paneer recipe is ideal, but that’s just me. 🙂
6. Consistency: In this recipe, you can make the gravy slightly thick as indicated in the recipe, or thin it out a touch. Just add slightly more water (about ¼ to ⅓ cup), but do not add too much or you’ll risk diluting the flavors. You can always check the seasonings and add more if required.
7. Frying: You can deep fry, shallow fry or pan fry the paneer cubes. Just be sure to not fry the paneer too much as it can become chewy and tough.
8. Vegan Option: To make this a vegan recipe, simply swap firm or extra-firm tofu cubes for the paneer. Just be sure to press the tofu ahead of time to remove any excess moisture prior to frying.

FAQs

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This Chilli Paneer recipe from the archives first published in April 2017 has been updated and republished on February 2022.