Why You’ll Love this Recipe
It’s the vegetarian version of Chili Chicken, using paneer instead. The dish is ready under 30 minutes and can be made in one wok. Chili Paneer can be served as an appetizer buffet-style for a party, or serve it over rice or noodles for a full meal.
What is Indo-Chinese Cuisine?
Ingredients - Notes and Substitutions
Chili Paneer has three main segments for pulling the dish together - frying the battered paneer, the Chinese-inspired sauce, and the stir fry. In my family, we absolutely love going out to restaurants for Indo-Chinese! I’ve even had delicious Chow Mein at a museum in India and the best Gobi Manchurian street-side at a bazaar. Chili Paneer is a popular vegetarian dish made with fried battered paneer that’s tossed with crispy capsicums and onions in a hot, tangy Chinese-inspired sauce. I love making it extra saucy to serve with rice or noodles, but it makes a delicious appetizer as well. This recipe makes a semi-dry gravy, meaning the Chili Paneer is saucy and not too dry, but not too gravy-like. While Indian and Chinese food mixed through the Silk Road, the dishes we see today mostly trace back to early Chinese immigrants in Calcutta during British-ruled colonial India. In the late 1700s, many immigrants fled China due to civil war and famine and settled in Calcutta. Chinese restauranteurs began adapting traditional cuisine to encompass Indian ingredients and spices for a few reasons, mainly based on availability of ingredients and a need to cater to larger audiences to increase sales. Now, Kolkata’s Chinatown, in a neighborhood known as Tiretti Bazaar, is one of the best places to enjoy traditional Indo-Chinese food. Indo-Chinese cuisine can be found across Indian restaurants around the world. It’s also incredibly popular at dhabas and roadside vendors in India. Some of the most popular dishes are hakka noodles, hot and sour soup, chow mein, chili chicken / paneer, gobi manchurian, chicken lollipop, and many more incredible dishes.
All-purpose flour and Corn Starch - For the crispy fried paneer, we’ll coat it with all-purpose flour and corn starch. We also use corn starch to thicken the sauce. Spices - The paneer gets a bit of salt and pepper so it’s not bland by itself. Of note is the kashmiri chili powder, which can be substituted with regular chili powder for a bit of a kick. Paneer - You can make homemade paneer with just milk and lemon juice, or purchase it from most grocers, like Whole Foods. The paneer is then shallow fried, so any neutral oil will work. Substitute with firm tofu. Sauces - We’re using equal amounts of soy sauce, ketchup, and sriracha. I substitute the ketchup with gochujang, a red chili paste used in Korean cooking. I highly recommend it if you’re a ketchup hater like me. Instead of sriracha, you can use any red chili sauce. In fact, I love this Gochujang Sriracha sauce. Rice Wine Vinegar - Adds acidity. Substitute with apple cider vinegar or lime juice. Honey - Used for sweetness to offset the spicy, salty, and tangy flavors Stir Fry Veggies - Use a spicy green chili, green bell pepper, and red onion. We also use the classic ginger garlic paste, which is a one to one ratio of pureed ginger and garlic. Garnish - Use fresh scallions and sesame seeds.
You can also use MSG if you’d like to, as most restaurants do.
How to make Chili Paneer
To prep the Chili Paneer: Remove the Chili paneer from heat.
Serving Suggestions
More Paneer Recipes to try
Recipe
Chili Paneer can be served as a hot appetizer before a meal, or alongside several other Indo-Chinese dishes. It can also be served with noodles, rice, or rolled in a paratha. For a full meal with noodles, I recommend having more of loose sauce to toss in the noodles. I’d love to know what you thought of this recipe! Don’t forget to leave a comment and ⭐️ star rating below! Thinking about making this recipe? Enter your email and I’ll send it straight to your inbox to save for later. Plus, get new recipe inspiration from me every week! By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Masala and Chai.
