Chilli Paneer

Chilli Paneer is a delicious Indo Chinese recipe where Paneer or Indian cottage cheese is coated with a batter and deep-fried until crisp. It is then tossed in a spicy sauce mixture. Here is how to make it at home.

Chilli Paneer is our favorite Indo Chinese at home and we all love it. If you think it is difficult to make restaurant-style chilli paneer at home, then this is the recipe for you.

It is finger-licking good and I can assure you once you make this at home, you will never order in or get a takeaway.

Just like Chilli Chicken, it is hot and spicy and loaded with flavors.

If you want, you can make it dry and serve it a starter for a dinner or a party or add gravy to it and serve with garlic noodles or veg fried rice as the main course.

So next time for your house party, make a restaurant-style Paneer Chilli along with Veg Manchurian, Gobi Manchurian, Hakka Noodles,Veg Fried Rice, or other Indo Chinese Recipes.

Process

Making this recipe requires four steps.

First is marinating the paneer, then making a batter to coat the marinated paneer, after this frying, the batter coated marinated paneer and then making the sauce for the chilli paneer.

Let’s first marinate the paneer, so we get the flavorful taste that is delectable.

Press the paneer cubes with a heavy object to get rid of excess water and then wipe it with a kitchen towel.

Mix ginger garlic paste, black pepper powder, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl and now add paneer pieces to it and mix to coat the paneer properly.

Keep the marinated paneer aside for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, let’s make the batter. Mix cornflour, all-purpose flour, vegetable oil, and salt in a bowl.

Mix well using your fingers until it forms a crumbly mixture. Add little water and make a thick batter.

Add the marinated paneer pieces in the batter and mix to coat all the paneer cubes properly.

For frying the paneer, heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is very hot, add the batter coated paneer in the hot oil and fry on high heat until the pieces turn slightly brown.

Remove the pieces on a tissue lined plate.

If the pieces are stuck with each other, you can separate them at this stage. 

Now heat the oil once again. Dip the pieces in batter from the sides where the coating isn’t there.

Fry the paneer on high heat until nicely browned.

Drain on a tissue lined plate. This double frying will ensure the paneer pieces are very crispy.

For the sauce, mix cornflour and water in a bowl and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok and add spring onion white, ginger, and garlic and fry for a minute on high heat.

Add onion, green chilli and capsicum and fry for another minute.

Add red chilli paste, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sugar, and black pepper powder and cook for a minute.

Now add the cornflour slurry and cook until the sauce thickens. Switch off the heat and let the sauce cool down a bit.

Once the sauce cools down, add the fried paneer in the sauce and toss well to coat them with the sauce.

Garnish with spring onion greens and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions

Chilli Paneer Dry can be served as an appetizer by itself.

You can make a gravy and serve it for lunch or dinner as a main course with fried rice or wok-tossed noodles.

You can even serve it with sticky rice or jasmine rice. They pair very well together and chilli paneer’s flavor stands out. 

How to make it with gravy?

To make a chilli paneer gravy, keep the process the same as the dry version.

At the end of cooking, mix 3 tbsp cornflour in 1/2 cup water and add it in the pan.

Cook until sauce thickens. 

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Step by Step Recipe

For the marination, press the paneer cubes with a heavy object to get rid of excess water. Mix all the ingredients for marination in a bowl and keep aside for 20 minutes.

For the batter, mix cornflour, all-purpose flour, vegetable oil, and salt in a bowl.

Mix well using your fingers until it forms a crumbly mixture.

Add little water and make a batter.

Add the marinated paneer pieces in the batter and mix well.

For frying the paneer, heat oil for frying in a pan. Once the oil is very hot, add the batter coated paneer in the hot oil and fry on high heat until the pieces turns slightly brown. Remove the pieces on a tissue lined plate.

If the pieces are stuck to each other, you can separate them at this stage. Now heat the oil once again. Dip the pieces in batter from the sides their coating has gone off. Double fry the paneer on high heat until nicely browned. Drain on a tissue lined plate. This double frying with ensures the paneer pieces are very crispy.

For the sauce, mix cornflour and water in a bowl and keep aside. Heat vegetable oil in a wok.

Add spring onion white, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute on high heat.

Add onion, green chilli and capsicum and fry for another minute.

Add red chilli paste, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sugar and black pepper powder and cook for a minute.

Add the cornflour slurry and cook until the sauce thickens. Switch off the heat and let the sauce cool down a bit. After 5 minutes, add the fried paneer in the sauce and toss well to coat them with the sauce.

Garnish with spring onion greens and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

4.25 from 4 votes

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Chilli Paneer Recipe

Chilli Paneer is a delicious Indo Chinese recipe where Paneer or Indian cottage cheese is coated with a batter and deep fried until crisp. It is then tossed in a spicy sauce mixture. Here is how to make it at home.

Course Snacks and Appetizer

Cuisine Indo Chinese

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 532 kcal

Author Neha Mathur

Ingredients

For Marination

• 400 g Paneer Cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• salt to taste

For the Batter

• 1/4 cup Cornflour
• 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• Salt to taste

For the Sauce

• 1 tsp Cornflour
• 1/4 cup Water
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 cup Spring Onion White Sliced
• 1 tbsp Garlic Chopped
• 1 tbsp Ginger Chopped
• 1 Onion Cubed and layers separated
• 5-6 Green Chillies Slit into half
• 1 Capsicum Cubed
• 1 tbsp Red Chilli Paste
• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Vinegar
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Black pepper Crushed
• 1/2 cup Spring Onion Greens Chopped
• 1 tsp Sesame Seeds Roasted

Instructions

For the marination

1. Press the paneer cubes with a heavy object to get rid of excess water.

2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and keep aside for 20 minutes.

For the batter

1. Mix cornflour, all purpose flour, vegetable oil and salt in a bowl.

2. Mix well using your fingers until it forms a crumbly mixture.

3. Add little water and make a batter.

4. Add the marinated paneer pieces in the batter and mix well.

For frying the paneer

1. Heat oil for frying in a pan.

2. Once the oil is very hot, add the batter coated paneer in the hot oil and fry on high heat until the pieces turns slightly brown.

3. Remove the pieces on a tissue lined plate.

4. If the pieces are stuck to each other, you can separate them at this stage.

5. Now heat the oil once again.

6. Dip the pieces in batter from the sides their coating has gone off.

7. Double fry the paneer on high heat until nicely browned.

8. Drain on a tissue lined plate.

9. This double frying with ensure the paneer pieces are very crispy.

For the sauce

1. Mix cornflour and water in a bowl and keep aside.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok.

3. Add spring onion white, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute on high heat.

4. Add onion, green chilli and capsicum and fry for another minute.

5. Add red chilli paste, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sugar and black pepper powder and cook for a minute.

6. Add the cornflour slurry and cook until the sauce thickens.

7. Switch off the heat and let the sauce cool down a bit.

8. After 5 minutes, add the fried paneer in the sauce and toss well to coat them with the sauce.

9. Garnish with spring onion greens and sesame seeds.

10. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

To make Chilli Paneer Gravy version, keep the process same as dry version.

At the end of cooking, mix 3 tbsp corn flour in 1/2 cup water and add it in the pan.

Cook until sauce thickens. Chilli Paneer Gravy is ready.

Nutrition Facts

Chilli Paneer Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 532 Calories from Fat 324

% Daily Value*

Fat 36g55%

Saturated Fat 23g144%

Cholesterol 66mg22%

Sodium 976mg42%

Potassium 183mg5%

Carbohydrates 34g11%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 18g36%

Vitamin A 1055IU21%

Vitamin C 52.6mg64%

Calcium 507mg51%

Iron 1.6mg9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.