The Ultimate Chili Paneer

"Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze"


The Ultimate Chilli Paneer

We (my fiance and myself) do like trying various restaurants at the weekends, mainly Indian ones. Our son does prefers Mexican, Italian or other International food.

I do like to try eating and cooking all different kinds of food. Especially as my partner is English and most of my close friends are from different cultures this gives us the opportunity to try different cuisines. One of which is the Chilli Paneer or Chilly Paneer. I have tried so many different versions, but as a non-veg person would know where to get his best Chicken curry at, in the same way us Veggies know where to get the best Chili Paneer.


This particular one at this restaurant has different textures, the celery and peppers provide a crunchy texture, the soya and tomato sauces make it juicy and the onion mixture mixed with the sauces make it divine. The flavours are spicy, yet so satisfying!

We would look forward to Friday evenings when we could go to our favourite restaurant to eat our favourite dish, this Chili Paneer. Amazingly enough, I have now managed to make this recipe it is so delicious that once you start eating you will not be able to stop.

Inspired by Aayi’s recipe, I have amended it to suit the dish we have in this restaurant and I am pleased to say I have made it, it is spot on! This recipe is dedicated to Shilpa, thank you for the wonderful recipe.



The recipe is below with detailed pictures to guide you or you can soon even watch the video (which will be available soon on utube) on how I made this mouth watering dish. You have to try it to believe it, once you have tried it please share your thoughts with me by completing the comment box below the recipe. Enjoy!!


Here it is – The Ultimate Chili Paneer Recipe:


Ingredients - see pictures below for visual information:



225gms or 1 cup Paneer (chopped into half inch cubes)
1 medium sized onion (sliced)
3 spring onions (chopped into 1 inch pieces)
1 teaspoon ginger and 1 teaspoon garlic (finely chopped or grated)
3 Celery Sticks (chopped)
3 Green Chillies (sliced)
2 Capsicum or Peppers (sliced or cubed) – using different colours make it look nicer
1 tablespoon Sunflower oil
1 tablespoon Soya Sauce
1 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup Bowl of warm water (big enough bowl to hold all the paneer)
Salt to taste
Garnish - Handful of Coriander leaves, 1 chopped spring onion and 1 chopped chili


Recipe:


1. Deep fry the paneer pieces until golden brown, remove and drain on kitchen paper – as in picture

2. Add paneer to the bowl of warm water so it remains soft

3. Then place a large pan on the heat and add the oil

4. Once oil is warm, add onions until the start to turn transparent (translucent), then add garlic and ginger and stir for a couple of mins

5. Add all vegetables and chillies, not the coriander (shown in picture). Stir for a couple of minutes.

6. Add the soya sauce and tomato ketchup. Stir, removing all the stickiness at the bottom of the pan. Add salt and stir for 5 mins.

7. Add the items under 'garnish', mix and serve lovely and hot!


We enjoy eating this on it’s own, the men like it with their drinks (yes, their beers). We sometimes place this in the middle of a roti or paratha and roll the sides, to make a paneer roll. This is superb too. This is a must try dish! Enjoy!!

Tips:

• Do not be too worried with how to chop the vegetables or be too concerned with getting the measurements perfect, the above is a guide if you add a little more or less it will still be a stunning dish to really enjoy.


• The paneer can be bought and frozen for convenience but will need to be defrosted before use for this recipe or if you have time you could use home made paneer.


• When frying the ginger and garlic, do not panic if they are sticking to the bottom of pan (it is meant to), keep stirring and lower the heat.


• If you do not have the celery or spring onions you can still make this recipe and it will still be wonderful, just give it a try!

Easy/Hard to make: Easy to medium (medium as the paneer splutters when being fried, so be careful, otherwise it is easy)


Preparation time: 20 mins


Cooking time: 15 mins

Simple and best Aloo Sabji or Bateta Shak

Simple and best Aloo Puri or Bateta and Puris

I first made this recipe when my I was at my mum’s and we had a call from my dad’s sister saying they were in the area with their friends and were going to pop by in the next few minutes. Suddenly, there was excitement in the house as everyone rushed to tidy up and then a sudden panic attack as mum said, “What about dinner?”.

Well, that was it we rushed to the kitchen and my mum started making the dessert, as for some reason in our family we always think of the sweet dishes first! Never mind the main as long as there is dessert? I was joking with my mum and she said that if I found t funny I could make the dinner! Well, that was it, I love a challenge and so checked out the fridge and pulled out the paneer to make my famous Chilli Paneer (recipe in my blog) and for main, I thought I would make mu jhat phat (quick and snappy) Aloo Puri with Chana and ghiya dhal (recipe in blog).

They arrived with a lovely box of Indian sweets, we had some drinks and snacks. Everyone seemed to chat non-stop and then came the dinner. We had the Chilli Paneer as our starter and the compliments started, with the Chilli Paneer I have to say I was not surprised but with the Aloo Puri dish as I made it in a rush, I was not so sure how it would turn out. We all ate, sharing recipes as we dug into the yummy Aloo dish and my aunty said they had never had Chana and Ghiya dhal before and would definitely try making these dishes. Then we all sat back and enjoyed the delicious strawberry triffle and for the ones that preferred an Indian dessert, they enjoyed my mum’s lovely Suji halwa, flavoured with saffron, it smelled and tasted divine.

My only regret is that I did not take pictures of the food before it was gone. At least we got some pictures of all of us together :).

Hope you also enjoy the Aloo Sabji recipe:

Ingredients:

6 – 8 Potatoes (boiled or I simply cook them in the microwave to save time – see tips)
3 fresh large juicy tomatoes – chopped
8 Curry leaves
1 tablespoon Tomato puree
6 green chillies – sliced (adjust to suit own taste)
2 teaspoons jeera (cumin seeds)
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 or 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
2 dried red chillies
Juice of one fresh lemon
Spices - 1 teaspoon of each – turmeric, cumin & coriander powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
Sprigs of Coriander leaves

Recipe:

1. Cook the potatoes until they are just done, in the microwave for about 10 minutes or by boiling for about 15 mins. Peel potatoes and chop.


2. In a large pan, heat oil and add – jeera and mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies and half of green chillies.


3. Once the jeera turns brown (takes a minute or so), add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Stir until tomatoes start to break ( about 5 mins).


4. Add all spices and stir well. Add water and mix well. Add potatoes and ensure there is enough water to cover potatoes.


5. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 10 mins.


6. Check the potatoes are well cooked and now add the remaining green chillies, lemon juice and use a fork to mash 2 or 3 pieces of the potatoes to thicken the sauce.


7. After about 5 minutes remove from heat, garnish with coriander and serve hot with fluffy puris.
   

My aunty rang me the next day, to check the recipes again as she wanted to make these for her family. I also confirmed the recipe she gave me for Saag Paneer with her. We both promised to try each others recipes and share our experiences.

Tips:

• To save time it is easier to cook the potatoes by simply washing the potatoes, prick them with a fork and cook in the microwave for about 10 mins. If potatoes are large, halve them and cook. Cool and peel. I find that not only does it save time when microwaving them as you don’t have to bother with boiling water and the potatoes have a better taste as they do not take in too much water, as they do when boiled.
  
• I always use fresh tomatoes for my cooking but these could be substituted with a tin of tomatoes, tins always come in handy! Same goes for the lemon juice, you could use the bottled but the flavour will not be the same though.
• I have used chopped green chillies at different stages of this recipe as I found that as the chillies cook, the flavour changes and as with the Chilli Paneer, it makes such a difference to bite into the chillies that are nearly raw and others that are cooked in oil and have a milder flavour. Of course you could alter the amount as you see fit.
  

Easy/Hard to make: Very Easy and a must try!

Preperation time – 5 mins

Cooking time – about 15 mins (as the potatoes cook, chop the tomatoes, chillies, squeeze the lemon for juice and get the spices ready)

Pictures to follow...