Chilli paneer

I love paneer and I love indo-chinese so as you can imagine, since this dish combines both, it tops my charts... spicy, yummy and quick to fix at the same time. I remember this was one of the few dishes we would expect to eat only in restaurants. Then one day mom made it at home and it was a instant hit among family and friends. My brother and I could not wait for the next time she would make it (at times we would force her :) ... so good! It is one of the very few dishes I knew how to make before getting married. It is also one of the first few dishes that got my hubby believing soon after we got married that 'the wife can cook'!

It is essentially paneer cubes cooked with bell peppers, onions and green chillies and simmered in chilli and soy sauce.
It can be made either dry or with gravy. In its dry form, it is typically served as an appetizer. In its gravied form it gets easily converted into main course paired with some chinese style fried rice. The recipe below talks about both versions.

Ingredients:

Paneer ....................................... 2 cups cubed

Green/Red bell pepper ................... 1 big sliced length-wise

Onion ........................................ 1 medium chopped into cubes

Green chilli ................................. 4 - 5 slit length-wise

Garlic ........................................ 5 cloves chopped

Ginger ....................................... 1 inch chopped fine

Chinese red chilli sauce .................. 1 tblsp or to taste
Ketchup ..................................... 2 tblsp

Low sodium Soy sauce .................... 1 tblsp

Cornstarch .................................. 2 tblsp

Water or vegetable broth ................. 3/4 cup 
Salt ........................................... to taste

Black pepper ................................ 1/ 4 tsp

Turmeric powder ........................... 1/4 tsp

Vinegar ....................................... 1/4 tsp

Oil ............................................. 2 tblsp

Spring onion for garnishing cut slanting

Method:

1. Add the cornstarch in the water. Mix well till no lumps and set aside.

2. In a non-stick pan, heat one tblsp of oil on medium heat and shallow fry the paneer pieces till they are evenly light brown. Take them out and drain on a paper towel.

3. In the same pan, add the remaining oil. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli. Saute for about two minutes. Add in the onions. Mix. Add the bell pepper and stir for about 3 -4 minutes till they are cooked but still have a bite to them. Add in all the sauces, vinegar and black pepper.

4. For the dry version, add paneer. Mix well. Remove from heat.

5. For the gravied version, take the cornstarch water mixture, whisk with a spoon and add to the pan. Stir continuously till there are no lumps. Add the paneer and mix. Add more water if more gravy is desired. Keep mixing till the paneer is evenly coated with the sauce. Remove from heat.

6. Garnish with green onions. Serve hot. ENJOY!

Notes:

1. Adjust the sauces and green chilli to taste. I like my chilli spicy :)

2. Be careful with the salt as all the sauces already contain salt.

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Linking this to-Akila's Dish name starts with C

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