Chilli Paneer

 

Recently, I've been wanting paneer (Indian cottage cheese), so today I went out and bought a packet. Now usually, I cook saag paneer or mattar paneer, however today I also wanted something different, so after scouring the web, I chose a Chinese style chilli paneer recipe, mish mashing a few recipes together. This is what I came up with.

 

It is prepared in three parts, and may seem complex, but it's not. Really. Apart from the marination, the dish took about 20 minutes to cook.

 

So for the first step, the marination, I used:

 

220g paneer, cubed

2 green chillies

1/2 inch piece ginger

Few stalks of coriander

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

 

Blend the above ingredients with a little water (apart from the paneer) and marinate the paneer pieces in this. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

 

For the second step, batter, I used:

 

1/2 cup plain flour

Pinch of salt

Water

 

Mix all the above ingredients together to form a light ish batter. If you can create the figure 8 and it holds, the batter is thick enough.

 

Heat up some oil for deep frying, and coating the paneer in the batter, deep fry for a few minutes until light golden. Put on some kitchen tissue to drain excess oil.

 

Now for the final step, the sauce, I used:

 

2 tbsp oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece ginger, minced

1 onion, finely chopped

(If I had spring onion at home, I would have used 1/2 an onion, and the rest of it spring onions)

3 green chillies, cut into large pieces

1/2 yellow capsicum, cubed like the paneer

1 tbsp hot pepper sauce (use chilli sauce if you can)

2 tbsp ketchup

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp tomato puree (optional)

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 large red onion, cut into big pieces and each layer separated

Salt to season

Black pepper to season

Spring onions to garnish if possible

 

In a large wok, heat your oil and add your minced garlic and ginger. Fry on a high heat, then add your onions, chillies and capsicum and cook on a high heat for a few minutes stirring continuously.

 

Once the capsicum has softened, add in all your sauces, and stir well. Add a little water, and mix well. Put in your red onion pieces and cook on a medium to high heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Once the red onion has softened, check the salt and adjust accordingly. Season with pepper, and at this point garnish with spring onions, if you have it at home.

 

Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then add in your paneer, and mix well until the paneer pieces are coated in the sauce. Serve immediately with noodles, jasmine rice, and hey if you have it, why not basmati rice?

 

Eat something different for a change, and watch how your family and friends compliment you. Trust me!

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Yaz