Indo-Chinese style delicious chilli paneer (Indian cottage cheese): super crispy paneer cubes tossed in a spicy garlic sauce giving you a perfectly filling appetiser/ starter recipe for your next party.
I know I am totally confusing you with the sub-niche of the blog, but you see, I am still discovering. The blog that started with fancy recipes like beetroot hummus, no bake chocolate tart, salted caramel cheesecake bars, is slowly inclining towards every day recipes like this homely chickpea and kale coconut curry or my forever favourite: soupy Thai red curry rice noodles. SO YUMMY! In addition to that, so many Indian starters (have you tried this recipe for sesame toasts???) and also like this one: chilli paneer. These are all my mom's recipes by the way... 😀 LOVE YOU MOM!!!
I am a huge fan of Indo-Chinese cuisine (more on that on this post for crispy honey chilli potatoes) but I love how we have chinese-ed so many basic recipes that I am pretty sure, do not even exist in China!? I love the flavour one up you get from a tablespoon of soy sauce to any of these Indo-Chinese meals and isn't it great, how that totally elevates the flavour?
Anyway, speaking of Indo-Chinese, in addition to my forever favourite: crispy baby corn salt and pepper, this recipe for chilli paneer is something I make very often. Very much adapted by my recipe for crispy honey chilli potatoes, I love eating this delicious chilli paneer either as an appetiser or make it semi-gravy and enjoy with some rice or sesame rice noodles.
Things you need to make Chilli Paneer? Paneer (Indian cottage cheese), onions, capsicums, rice flour, plain flour (maida), soda water (sparkling water), soy sauce, ketchup, honey and a hot sauce (like sriracha), water, corn flour and garlic.
How to make Chilli Paneer?
- start with onions & capsicum.
- saute them in some oil with chopped garlic until they are lightly toasted (brownish) in colour. add the sauces: light soy sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, honey and keep aside.
- cube the paneer into roughly 15-20 grams per cube and prepare the batter by mixing rice flour and plain flour (maida) with soda water (sparkling water)
- deep fry until crunchy and add them to the sauce.
Serve this delicious chilli paneer as an appetiser or with these simple sesame rice noodles. YUM!
Can I replace paneer with tofu?
Yes. Just make sure you pat dry the tofu or press it with a kitchen cloth to get rid of any excess moisture.
Similar recipes from the blog that you might wanna try:
- crispy orange chicken
- baby corn salt & pepper
- bbq nation style crispy fried corn
- crispy honey chilli potatoes
- vegetarian sesame toasts
Scroll down for the recipe card for this easy recipe for homemade chilli paneer. Hope you guys enjoy the recipe!
Chilli Paneer (Indian cottage cheese in spicy sauce)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Category: Appetizer
Description
Indo-Chinese style delicious chilli paneer (Indian cottage cheese): super crispy paneer cubes tossed in a spicy garlic sauce giving you a perfectly filling appetiser/ starter recipe for your next party.
Ingredients
For the crispy paneer
- oil (for deep frying)
- 250 grams paneer (cubed as 15g per cube)
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 1/2 cup plain flour (maida)
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp soda water (sparkling water)
- salt
- pepper
For the sauce
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp garlic (chopped)
- 150 grams capsicum (cubed)
- 200 grams onions (cubed)
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp hot sauce (like sriracha)
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp spring onions (chopped)
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 5 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp oil
Instructions
- In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and add chopped garlic, capsicum and onions to it. Sauté for a couple of minutes on medium heat until they are nicely cooked.
- Add the hot sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- In a small bowl, mix together corn flour and water and pour the slurry over the sauce. Mix well and cook for about one minute on medium low heat until the sauce just begins to thicken. Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan for deep frying the paneer cubes.
- In a bowl, mix plain flour and rice flour. Add soda water, salt and pepper. Dip the paneer cubes in the batter. Take off the access and transfer to the hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown in colour.
- Add them to the sauce, heat on medium heat for just one minute and mix the paneer well with the sauce until every cube is nicely coated.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds and green onions and serve hot.
I loved it! So tasty! Very good sauce. Great idea with the paneer. I made rice with it and salat.
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Yay 😀 SO glad you liked it 🙂
Nice recipe.. I planned this recipe on my daughter's birthday.
AND the whole family with guests loved it.. thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
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So glad you like it! Thanks for trying.