Chili Paneer-Dry

Reiterating my love for paneer and dairy by-products time and again in this blog has now become a regular affair. If you were following my blog for some time now you might have known that I was on an Indo-Chinese mania some time ago. This post was in my draft from then and today i am posting it. It’s one of those fuzz free recipes which are sure crowd pleasers. Do try them and let me know how it turned out!

Ingredients:

Paneer-1 cup, cut into 2 inch pieces

Capsicum-1, cubed

Onion-1, cubed

Garlic-5 flakes, finely chopped

Scallions/Spring onions- To garnish

Soy sauce-1 tsp

Red chili sauce-1 tsp

Pepper powder-1 tsp

Salt-as needed

Ajinomoto-1/4 tsp (optional)

Oil- for deep frying

For Batter:

All-Purpose Flour/maida-1 tbsp

Cornflour-1 tbsp

Red chili powder-1/4 tsp

Pepper powder-1/4 tsp

Baking soda- 1 pinch

Salt-as needed

Water - as needed

How It Happened:

1. In a bowl, add all the ingredients given under the ‘for batter’ list except water. Mix well then add water little by little to make a smooth batter. Add in the paneer pieces and let it sit for 10 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a pan, and when it’s medium hot, add 2 or 3 pieces of paneer and fry until they turn golden brown. Remove from oil, and drain in a kitchen tissue. Similarly fry all paneer pieces and set aside.

4. In another pan, heat a tsp of oil add chopped garlic, when they turn translucent, add the cubed onions and capsicum and fry until they are half cooked.

5. Add in soy sauce, chili sauce, pepper powder and salt and mix well.

6. Slide in the fried paneer pieces and toss in well to coat the sauces well on the paneer.

7. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve hot immediately.

Notes:

* The batter shouldn’t be too thick else will not get cooked in the inside and will be too cakey while eating. If the batter is too thin, they will absorb a lot of oil while frying and will be soggy once when its removed from oil.

* Baking soda is added to maintain the crunch for a little long time. But you can skip it.

* Need not cook the paneer until the oil stops bubbling completely, as the paneer is already soft. So when they just turn golden brown you can remove from oil.

* Don’t overcrowd the oil. Add in 2-3 pieces at a time while frying else the oil will lose the temperature and the cooking will be even.

* Once when tossed with the sauce, serve immediately else the baby corn will lose the crunch.

 * If you want to make gravy, mix a tbsp of corn flour with ½ cup of water and mix without any lumps. Add this to the sauce before adding the paneer pieces. Cook in simmer and when the mixture slightly thickens and changes color to dark, add in the paneer pieces, stir once, Switch off the flame, top with scallions and serve hot. Do not cook for long after the sauce has become dark else it will become a sticky doughy mass!