Chilli Paneer is one of the popular recipe from the Indian Chinese cuisine. There are many ways of making it. You can make it dry, semi dry or a gravy version. In this post I am sharing the dry and semi dry version.
- Chilli Paneer Restaurant Style (Semi-Dry)
- Chilli Paneer Street Style (Dry version as a snack)
Both these recipes make for an awesome chilli paneer which you can relish with some noodles or fried rice. They taste good with naan or roti too. I have also shared a gravy version made in Instant Pot – Instant Pot Chilli Paneer Gravy.
What is Chilli Paneer
One of the favorite dishes from Indian Chinese cuisine is Chilli Paneer which is a vegetarian version of Chilli Chicken.
In a typical Chilli Paneer recipe, the fried paneer cubes are tossed in a sweet, sour, spicy sauce. The paneer cubes can be coated with flours or batter coated and deep fried.
The dry version of chilli paneer is served as a starter or appetizer snack. The gravy version is had with steamed rice or noodles. The semi-dry version can be had as an appetizer.
This semi-dry chilli paneer recipe gives a truly restaurant style taste and flavor.
Tips for making Best Chilli Paneer
- Paneer: Use homemade paneer for best results. If using frozen paneer, then soak them in hot water for some minutes.
- Soy Sauce: If possible use naturally fermented soy sauce. You can even use tamari or bragg amino liquid instead of soy sauce.
- Spring Onions: If you do not have spring onions (scallions), you can use shallots or regular onions.
- Flours: Normally in restaurants, both corn flour and all-purpose flour are used to make the batter. You can even use whole wheat flour or rice flour instead of all purpose flour. In place of corn starch, you can use potato starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot flour.
- Spicing: You can add the amount of soy sauce, red chilli sauce, green chillies, black pepper, sugar and vinegar as per your requirements or taste buds.
- Consistency: In this recipe, you can make the gravy slightly thick or having medium consistency. Just add slightly more water (about ¼ to ⅓) but do not add too much as then the flavors get diluted in the water. You can always check the seasonings and add more if required.
- Frying: You can deep fry or shallow fry or pan fry the paneer cubes. But do not fry the paneer too much as then they become dense and loose their softness.
- Vegan Option: Replace tofu with paneer.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve chilli paneer with fried rice or schezwan fried rice or burnt garlic fried rice. It also goes well as a side dish with pulao or jeera rice or ghee rice. You can also have it with tandoori roti or naan or roomali roti. You can even have it as an appetizer snack with any chinese dipping sauce.
How to make Chilli Paneer Restaurant Style
Preparing batter
1. In a bowl take 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 3 tablespoons maida (all purpose flour).
2. Next add ½ teaspoon ginger paste and ½ teaspoon garlic paste.
3. Now add ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper or black pepper powder and ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder. Also season with salt as required.
4. Then 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. Now add paneer cubes in the batter. With a spoon gently coat the paneer cubes with the batter.
Frying Paneer
1. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan. I have pan fried the paneer cubes. You can also deep fry them.
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. Also do not over do the frying as then the paneer cubes can become hard.
3. Remove the fried paneer cubes and place them on kitchen paper towels for the extra oil to be absorbed.
Stir Frying
1. In the same pan, there will be some oil left. So 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 flame for some seconds.
3. Then add ⅓ cup chopped spring onions. Stir fry spring onions for 1 to 2 minutes on medium to high flame.
4. Next add ½ cup sliced capsicum.
6. Stir fry on medium to high flame for 3 to 4 minutes. The capsicum only needs to slightly cooked.
7. Lower the flame and then add ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder.
8. Then add 2 teaspoons soy sauce.
9. Next add 1 teaspoon red chilli sauce.
10. Stir and mix the sauces and red chilli powder with the remaining stir fried ingredients.
11. Add ½ to ⅔ cup water.
12. Mix well.
13. Let the mixture come to a simmer on medium to medium-high flame.
14. Take 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small bowl.
15. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water for dissolving corn starch. Corn starch is known as corn flour in India.
16. Mix very well to get a smooth paste.
17. Lower the flame and then add this corn starch paste to the gravy.
18. As soon as you add, mix the paste very well so that no lumps are formed.
19. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar or as required.
20. Season with salt as per taste. Do keep a check on salt 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 corn starch has cooked. You can check the taste and you should not feel any raw taste coming from the corn starch.
22. Add the fried paneer cubes.
23. Mix paneer cubes very well with the gravy.
24. Switch off the flame and then add ¼ to ½ teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar. You can skip vinegar if you want.
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 chilli paneer restaurant style garnished with some spring onions. You can serve it with any Indo Chinese rice recipe.
Chilli paneer also goes well as a side dish with veg pulao or jeera rice. You can also have paneer chilli with plain paratha or pudina paratha or naan or roti.
More popular paneer recipes
This post is from the archives and has been republished and updated on 24 May 2020.
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Chilli Paneer (Restaurant Style Recipe)
By Dassana Amit
Ingredients
for batter
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (also known as corn flour in india)
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ginger paste
- ½ teaspoon garlic paste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper or black pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder
- salt as required
- ¼ cup water or add as required
for frying paneer
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 200 to 250 grams Paneer - cut in cubes
for chilli paneer gravy or sauce
- 2 small spring onions or ⅓ cup chopped spring onions
- 2 to 3 green chillies - slit or sliced
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
- 1 small to medium capsicum or ½ cup sliced green bell pepper
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon red chilli sauce
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar or add as required
- salt as required
- ½ to ⅔ cup water or add as required
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (also known as corn flour in india)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water for dissolving corn starch
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar - optional
- 2 to 3 spring onion greens to be added later
Instructions
making batter
- In a bowl take 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
- Then add 3 tablespoons maida (all purpose flour).
- Next add 2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger, 2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic, ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper or black pepper powder and ¼ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder. Also season with salt as required.
- 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.
- Now add paneer cubes in the batter.
- With a spoon gently coat the paneer cubes with the batter.
frying paneer
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan.
- 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. Also do not over do the frying as then the paneer cubes can become hard.
- Remove the fried paneer cubes and place them on kitchen paper towels for the extra oil to be absorbed.
making chilli paneer gravy or sauce
- In the same pan, there will be some oil left. So 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).
- Stir fry on medium to high flame for some seconds.
- Then add ⅓ cup chopped spring onions.
- Stir fry spring onions for 1 to 2 minutes on medium to high flame.
- Next add ½ cup sliced capsicum.
- Stir fry on medium to high flame for 3 to 4 minutes. The capsicum only needs to be slightly cooked.
- Lower the flame and then add ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder.
- Then add 2 teaspoons soy sauce and 1 teaspoon red chilli sauce.
- Stir and mix the sauces and red chilli powder with the remaining stir fried ingredients.
- Add ½ to ⅔ cup water. mix well.
- Let the mixture come to a simmer on medium to medium-high flame.
- Meanwhile take 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small bowl.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water for dissolving corn starch. Corn starch is known as corn flour in india.
- Mix very well to get a smooth paste.
- Lower the flame and then add this corn starch paste to the gravy.
- As soon as you add corn flour paste to the gravy, mix the paste very well so that no lumps are formed.
- Add ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar or as required.
- Season with salt as per taste. Do keep a check on salt as soy sauce and red chilli sauce already have salt in them.
- Mix very well and simmer till the sauce has slightly thickened and the corn starch has cooked. You can check the taste and you should not feel any raw taste coming from the corn starch in the sauce.
- Add the fried paneer cubes.
- Mix paneer cubes very well with the gravy.
- Switch off the flame and then add ¼ to ½ teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar. You can skip vinegar if you want.
- Then add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped spring onions greens.
- Mix very well. Check the taste of gravy and if you want, you can add more soy sauce, chilli sauce, salt, black pepper or sugar.
- Serve restaurant-style chilli paneer garnished with some spring onions.
Video
Notes
- Paneer: It is better to use homemade paneer in this recipe. When using frozen paneer, then soak them in hot water for some minutes.
- Frying Paneer: Paneer can be pan fried, shallow fried or deep fried. While frying, do not fry the paneer too much as then they become dense and loose their softness.
- Soy Sauce: If possible use naturally fermented soy sauce. You can even use tamari or bragg amino liquid instead.
- Spring Onions: If you do not have spring onions (scallions), you can use shallots or regular onions.
- Flours: Normally in restaurants, both corn flour and all-purpose flour are used to make the batter. You can even use whole wheat flour or rice flour instead of all purpose flour. In place of corn starch, you can use potato starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot flour.
- Spicing: Add less or more of the spices or sauces as per your taste buds.
- Consistency: In this recipe, you can make the gravy slightly thick or having medium consistency. Just add slightly more water (about ¼ to ⅓) but do not add too much as then the flavors get diluted in the water. You can always check the seasonings and add more if required.
- Vegan Option: Replace tofu with paneer.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve chilli paneer with fried rice or schezwan fried rice or burnt garlic fried rice. It also goes well as a side dish with pulao or jeera rice or ghee rice. You can also have it with tandoori roti or naan or roomali roti. You can even have it as an appetizer snack with any chinese dipping sauce.
Nutrition Info Approximate values
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Chilli Paneer Dry (Street Style Recipe)
This is a quick 30 minutes street style dry chilli paneer which is truly spicy, sour, sweet and tastes so good. This is a dry snack and can be has an appetizer.
When I make paneer (Indian cottage cheese) at home, then most of the times (when there is capsicum in the fridge I make this chilli paneer.
It is best to use fresh paneer to make this dish. You can add less or more sauces (e.g. soy sauce or red chilli sauce) as per your requirements.
You can serve these dry chilli paneer as starter snack or even roll them in roti and make a chilli paneer wrap. This incredibly spicy paneer dish tastes best when served hot. Instead of having them with veg fried rice, we have them with roti or naan and it tastes yum.
Some more awesome dry Paneer recipes
How to make Street Style Chilli Paneer Dry
1. Pat dry 200 to 250 grams paneer first. Then slice the paneer in cubes or rectangles. Keep aside in a mixing bowl. If using frozen paneer, then keep them soaked in hot water for some minutes before slicing.
2. Peel and finely chop 1-inch ginger and 7 to 9 medium garlic cloves. Diagonally chop 3 to 4 green chillies. Quarter 1 small to medium-sized onion and remove all the layers. Slice 1 small to medium capsicum in squares. Remove its seeds and pith (white part). Keep the chopped veggies aside. Instead of onions, you can also use spring onions (scallions).
3. Add 2 tablespoons corn starch (corn flour), ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper or black pepper powder and salt as per taste to the paneer cubes.
4. Gently mix without breaking the cubes. Or else you can shake the bowl and toss the paneer with the dry ingredients. If there is some moisture in the paneer, the corn starch will become sticky. But still, no issues as the paneer can be still fried.
5. Heat 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil in a non-stick pan or a well-seasoned pan. When the oil is medium hot, place the paneer cubes in the pan. You can use any other oil instead of sesame oil.
6. When the base is slightly cooked, flip over and fry the other side.
7. Turn them gently and fry so that they are uniformly golden. You can also deep fry the paneer cubes if you want.
8. Fry them till golden and crisp. Do not overcook as then they harden.
9. Place the pan fried paneer cubes in a plate. Keep aside.
10. Whilst the paneer cubes are getting fried, do the following. In the same bowl, in which we marinated the paneer cubes, there will be some leftover corn starch (corn flour) and spices. Add 2 tablespoons water to the bowl
11. Mix very well. we will add this corn starch paste to give a glaze to the sauce.
11. In another small bowl, add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon green chilli sauce, 1 teaspoon sweet red chilli sauce, ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder and ¼ teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper or black pepper powder.
12. With a spoon mix all the three sauces very well.
13. In the same pan, there will be some oil left after pan frying the paneer cubes. So add the finely chopped ginger-garlic and green chillies. Stir.
14. Then add the onion and capsicum squares. If using celery, you can add 1 teaspoon chopped celery at this step.
15. On a medium flame, stir fry till the edges of the onions and capsicum get cooked or become light browned.
16. Add mixed sauces.
17. Then add little salt and sugar. Go easy on the salt as the sauces already have salt in them.
17. Stir very well.
18. Now add the corn starch paste.
19. Stir again very well. Do check the taste and add some soy sauce or chilli sauces or red chilli powder or sugar or salt if required.
20. Add the pan fried paneer cubes.
21. Stir and mix the paneer cubes with the rest of the sauce so that the sauce coats the paneer cubes evenly.
22. Here the Street Style Best Chilli Paneer is done and ready to be served.
23. You can garnish with some coriander leaves or chopped celery or spring onion greens before serving. Serve Dry Chilli Paneer hot. This spicy paneer dish tastes best when served hot.
Dry Chilli Paneer (Street Style)
By Dassana Amit
Ingredients
for paneer marination
- 200 to 250 grams Paneer (cottage cheese) - cubed
- 2 tablespoon corn starch (also known as corn flour in india)
- ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper or black pepper powder
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil or any oil
- salt as required
other ingredients for dry chilli paneer
- 1 medium onion - quartered and separated in squares
- 1 small to medium capsicum - cut in squares (bell pepper)
- 1 inch ginger - finely chopped or ½ tablespoon finely chopped ginger
- 7 to 9 small to medium garlic cloves, finely chopped or ½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 3 to 4 green chillies, sliced vertically
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon green chilli sauce
- 1 teaspoon sweet red chilli sauce
- ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper or black pepper powder
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar or add as required
- 1 teaspoon chopped celery - chopped (optional)
- 2 tablespoon water - added in the leftover corn starch to give glaze
- salt as required
Instructions
preparation
- Pat dry 200 to 250 grams paneer first. Then slice the paneer in cubes or rectangles. Keep aside in a mixing bowl.
- Then peel and finely chop 1 inch ginger and 7 to 9 medium garlic cloves.
- Diagonally chop 3 to 4 green chillies. Quarter 1 small to medium-sized onion and remove all the layers.
- Slice 1 small to medium capsicum in squares. Remove its seeds and pith (white part). Keep the chopped veggies aside.
marinating and pan frying paneer
- Add 2 tbsp corn starch, ¼ tsp red chilli powder, ¼ tsp black pepper powder and salt to the paneer cubes.
- Gently mix without the breaking the cubes. Or else you can shake the bowl and toss the paneer with the dry ingredients.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a non stick pan or a well seasoned pan. When the oil is medium hot, place the paneer cubes in the pan.
- When the base is slightly cooked, flip over and fry them. Turn the paneer cubes gently and fry so that they are uniformly golden. You can also deep fry the paneer cubes if you want.
- Fry them till golden and crisp. Do not fry for a long time as then they harden and become dense.
- Place the pan fried paneer cubes in a plate. Keep aside.
- Whilst the paneer cubes are getting fried, in the same bowl, in which we marinated the paneer cubes, there will be some leftover corn starch and spices. Add 2 tbsp water to the bowl and mix well.
- We will add this corn starch paste to give a glaze to the sauce.
- In another small bowl, add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp green chilli sauce, 1 tsp sweet red chilli sauce, ¼ tsp red chilli powder and ¼ tsp black pepper.
- With a spoon mix all the three sauces very well.
making street style dry chilli paneer
- In the same pan, after we finish frying the paneer, add the finely chopped ginger-garlic and green chillies. Stir.
- Then add the onion and capsicum squares. If using celery, you can add 1 tsp chopped celery at this step.
- On a medium flame, stir fry till the edges of the onions and capsicum get cooked or become light browned.
- Add the mixed sauces.
- Then add little salt and sugar. Go easy on the salt as the sauces already have a salt in them. Stir very well.
- Now add the corn starch paste. Stir again very well. Do check the taste and add some soy sauce or chilli sauce or sugar or salt if required.
- Add the pan-fried paneer cubes. Stir and mix the paneer cubes with the rest of the sauce.
- You can garnish it with some coriander leaves or chopped celery or spring onion greens before serving.
- Serve dry chilli paneer hot. This spicy paneer dish tastes best when served hot.
Nutrition Info Approximate values
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Great recipe… followed the steps and it turned out to be awesome.
Thanks for the rating and the feedback. Glad to know.
Hi .. I have tried this recipe and it didn’t really come out as expected. I think the reason was because I forgot to add water before adding the cornflour water in. Now every time I stir the mixture, it goes really slimy like but looks nice and glossy still.
Is it really compulsory to add the water before the cornstarch water or is it okay? Are there any recommendations or advice you can give to help me overcome this problem please. Thanks!
The water has to be added before and later the corn starch paste has to be added. Corn starch is a thickener so obviously to loosen it more water will be needed. One can always change the consistency of the sauce/gravy by adding less or more water. So even if the sauce becomes thick, then you can always add some more water to reduce the thickness. I hope this helps.
Hi
I have tried the recipe but paneer became hard.plz tell the solution fo r that.
And secondly can we prepare this recipe 3 to 4 hours earlier than serving?
if the paneer gets fried for more time, it will become hard. a solution for this is – soak the fried paneer in hot water for 15 minutes. they will get some softness. then add in the gravy. do not cook further after adding in the gravy. yes you can make this chilli paneer recipe 3 to 4 hours before serving.
Hey !!!
Tried the recipe
It came out to be very good
But one question can we add rice flour instead of corn flour?
thanks aditi for the postive review and rating. yes, you can add rice flour.