Chili Paneer
Chili Paneer, crispy paneer coated with chili ginger garlic sauce along with street style Indo Chinese flavors and mixed with charred onions and bell peppers.
Chili paneer is very famous Indo Chinese street food. The paneer cubes are coated with spicy batter and deep fried to perfect crunchiness. Then coated with spicy tangy garlicky Indo Chinese sauce. And then garnished with fresh cilantro and scallions. This is one of those extremely flavorful street style goodies from india that never ever fails to hit the spot!! It is perfect to pair with Manchow Soup, Rainbow Lo-Mein and Veg Gravy Manchurian to make it a perfect Indo-Chinese feast!
Growing up in India, one of the all time favorite cuisine was Indo Chinese. Nothing can beat that organic feelings of standing by these street stalls, watch people make this type of amazing food right in front of your eyes and then you get to devour it while its pippin hot! One of those things I deeply miss being outside my home country! Well, that does not mean I do not get to enjoy those same food, right?!?! My love for Indo Chinese unreal and hence all these delicious Indo Chinese recipes on my blog!
I have tried this recipe with air fried and baked paneer. But with all the honesty it is not the same as deep fried version! Take my words for it and just follow the recipe mentioned below to the T. And I guarantee you amazing street style flavors and texture!! If you end up trying it and liking it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of this goodie!
Happy & Healthy Eating!
My Family enjoys this very much, hope yours does too!
Happy and Healthy Eating!!
Chili Paneer
Ingredients
Fried Panner
- 8 oz Cubed Paneer
- 2 tbsp Corn Starch
- ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- 1½ tsp Red Chili Sauce ching's red chili sauce is preferred
- 1 tbsp Oil
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 1 tsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tsp Grated Ginger
- 4 tbsp Water more or less based on the thickness of the batter
- Oil to deep fry
Paneer Coating
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 2 tbsp Chopped White part of Scallions keep chopped white part separate from chopped green part
- 1 tbsp Chopped Cilantro Stems keep chopped stem separate from chopped leaves
- ½ Sliced Fresh Serrano Pepper preferred sliced long way
- 1½ tsp Grated Ginger
- 2 tsp Grated Garlic
- 1 cup Cubed Red Onions
- 1 cup Cubed Green Bell Peppers
- 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce ching's dark soy sauce is preferred
- 1 tbsp Red Chili Sauce ching's red chili sauce is preferred
- 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
- ¾ tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- 2 tbsp Water
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 2 tbsp Chopped Green part of Scallions
- 2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
Prepare Paneer
- Mix all ingredients to make a thick batter except paneer in a bowl that is listed under "Fried Paneer" above.
- Coat each paneer cubes with the batter and deep fry them till golden and crispy. Let them sit on a paper towel.
Prepare chili coating
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or your preferred pan.
- Saute ginger, garlic, sliced serrano, chopped cilantro stems and chopped white part of scallions till raw smell of garlic is gone.
- Add cubed onions and green bell peppers. Saute them on high flame until they are charred but still holds their crunch. This step should not take too long.
- Once the onions and bell peppers are charred, add dark soy sauce, red chili sauce, vinegar, ketchup, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Quickly mix 1 tbsp of corn starch with 2 tbsp of water. Mix it well so there are no lumps in it.
- Slowly add corn starch slurry over cooked onions/pepper in a wok while stirring continuously.
- Keep cooking it until the chili coating gets thick and changes color to little dark brown.
- Add prepared paneer to the pan and coat all the paneer cubes evenly and carefully.
- Garnish chili paneer with chopped cilantro and scallions (the green part). Mix well and adjust salt pepper if needed.
- Serve it hot, warm or room temperature as an appetizer!