Chilli Paneer

Usually hubby dear is not so enthusiastic about paneer dishes, complaining that it is very bland for his taste buds. So I made this dish very hot and spicy. I believe that he enjoyed both the paneer and the green chillies very much this time.

After Kothamalli Channa Curry became a run away hit in my home which I successfully managed to convert into a vegetarian side dish, originally a Non- Veg fare that I saw on T.V, I started thinking of ways to convert non-vegetarian dishes to suit our Vegetarian palate. This is another attempt in converting one such chicken dish.

Chilli Paneer

You’ll need:

For Marination:

Paneer, cubed	250 gms
Ginger	1 inch piece
Garlic	4 cloves
Green chilli	3
Dark soy sauce	1 tsp
Red chilli powder	1  1/2 tsp
Vinegar	1  1/2 tsp
Corn flour	3 tbsp
Salt	2 pinch

For the Sauce:

Onions	2
Green chilli	10
Capsicum / bell pepper	1
Ginger	1 inch piece
Garlic	8 cloves
Spring onions	6 stalks
Tomato sauce	3 tbsp
Red chilli sauce	3 tbsp
Vinegar	1 tbsp
Dark soy sauce	1 ½ tbsp
Sugar	1 tsp
Corn flour	1 tbsp
Oil	5 tbsp
Salt	To taste

Method:

For the marinade:

Grind green chilli, ginger and garlic to a fine paste. Transfer to a bowl and to this paste add dark soy sauce, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well. Add the paneer cubes and toss well. Let it rest for half an hour.

Now add the vinegar to the marinade and toss well. Sprinkle the corn flour and toss gently making sure that all the paneer cubes are coated well. Let this again rest for 10 – 15 mins.

To cook Paneer:

In a big skillet heat 2 tbsp of oil and arrange the marinated paneer cubes in a single layer. Shallow fry for few minutes or till all the sides are golden brown. Remove and keep it aside.

For the Sauce:

Heat the remaining oil in a wok or a thick pan. Add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and sauté for a minute. Now add sliced onion, slit green chilies and the spring onions whites and cook till they soften a bit over high flame. Next goes in the sliced capsicum and cook for another minute. Add the fried paneer cubes at this stage and toss well for 2 more mins.

Whisk together tomato sauce, dark soy sauce, red chilli sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt to a smooth consistency. Add this to the pan and cook over high heat stirring till the onion and paneer cubes are coated well with the sauce.

Dissolve corn flour in ½ cup of water and add this to the pan. Cook till the sauce thickens and coats everything nice and well.

Take off stove and finally add the chopped spring onion greens. Toss well and serve hot as a side dish to this Chinese Egg Noodles or any rotis.

Notes:

Adjust the sauces according to your taste.

Add more water if you want more sauce.

You can use boneless chicken pieces to convert this into chilli chicken by following the same recipe.

This is off to my CBB Series ~ Chinese Cuisine.