This Indian Chinese chilli paneer is a hakka restaurant style recipe that is quick and easy and the perfect vegetarian meal idea. Packed with a sweet, tangy and spicy sauce with crisp peppers and onions, this is a fantastic way to encourage meatless meals in your home - The crispy paneer chunks are so filling that you won't miss the meat!
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👩🏽🍳 Why This Recipe Works
- A delicious, Indian-Chinese classic: Chilli paneer is a popular Indian-Chinese dish, that you will generally find on the menus of Indian and Hakka restaurants, alongside hakka noodles and schezwan chicken. The sauce is unique, as it is the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and tangy, with the right amount of spice which is slightly untraditional to classic Chinese recipes. This recipe is exactly what you look for in perfect restaurant-style chilli paneer.
- Great alternative to meat: Paneer is a great protein option if you are a vegetarian, or are looking to cut down on meat in your diet. It is often referred to as 'Indian cheese' or 'Indian cottage cheese'. It's a little bit less spongey than tofu, but is a blank slate for flavour.
- Easy ingredient list: Despite this recipe being Indian-Chinese, you do not need any Indian spices on hand. With a few staple pantry sauces, you're ready to start cooking! The best part is these are ingredients commonly used in homemade Chinese food, too.
🥘 Ingredient notes
Get Your Pantry Ready to Cook!
For more detailed information on many of the ingredients used in this recipe, check out this guide to 10 pantry staple ingredients in Chinese cooking!
- Paneer: Paneer is generally sold with other dairy items in bricks. You want to cut the paneer into cubes, as large or as small as you prefer. You can sometimes find pre-fried paneer cubes in the freezer section of your grocery store, which will work in this recipe as well.
- Soy sauce: This recipe uses regular soy sauce, not to be substituted with dark soy sauce. I prefer to use reduced sodium, as the sauce is heavily soy sauce based it can become overly salty.
- Ketchup: Regular tomato ketchup that you have in your pantry is all you'll need - use your favorite brand.
- Brown sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar in the sauce, as it is mainly used to balance the flavors out.
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖 Substitutions
- Paneer: Tofu is a good substitute for paneer if you are having a difficult time finding it, or want to keep the recipe dairy free.
- Sriracha: Your favorite red chilli sauce can be used in place of sriracha. Be sure that it is a thicker chilli sauce and not a vinegar-heavy Louisiana hot sauce like tabasco. You can also use kashmiri chilli powder, red chilli powder, or sweet chilli sauce if you prefer.
- Brown sugar: Granulated sugar or honey can be used in place of brown sugar.
- Ginger & garlic paste: Freshly minced garlic and ginger can be used if you do not have premixed ginger & garlic paste.
- Corn starch: You can use corn flour in place of the corn starch. You can also dredge the paneer pieces in all purpose flour instead of corn starch or flour.
🔪 Variations
- Extra spice: Add finely chopped green chillies to the stir fry for an extra spicy kick.
- Meat: This sauce works perfectly with your favorite proteins, like chicken for a version of chilli chicken.
- Air fryer: Toss the paneer in the air fryer instead of shallow frying in a skillet, for an extra layer of crunch and to ditch the excess oil.
- Deep fry: For extra crunch, try deep frying the paneer in hot oil instead of crisping in a skillet.
- Dry or gravy: You can make this into a dry version or gravy version which are the two main versions of chilli paneer. This is based on using more or less sauce in the recipe. This recipe is a balance of a dry recipe with slightly more sauce, but not a full gravy.
⏲️ Step-by-step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
- Collecting all your ingredients: This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
- Cut the vegetables: Chop the bell peppers and onions into even-sized chunks.
- Cut the paneer: Cut the paneer into even-sized pieces - you can make the pieces as big or as small as you'd like. I used 1 ½" cubes for this recipe.
- Boil water: Bring 1L of water to a boil in a kettle or in a pot on the stove.
In a measuring cup, mix together the sauce ingredients for the chilli sauce. Set aside.
Add the cubed paneer to a large mixing bowl, and cover with the hot water. Make sure the paneer is completely covered in the water, and soak for 5-7 minutes until soft. [photo 1]
Once the paneer is soft, drain the water and lightly dab with paper towel to dry off the extra moisture.
Add the soy sauce and sriracha to the mixing bowl with the paneer and lightly toss so all the cubes are coated. Sprinkle with corn starch, and toss again to coat the cubes. [photo 2]
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and the paneer cubes to the skillet. Let the paneer cubes brown on all sides while tossing occasionally.
Once the paneer is golden brown, add the ginger & garlic paste, and chunks of green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and diced onions to the skillet. Toss well, and let the vegetables sauté until browned and slightly softened. [photo 3]
Add the chilli paneer gravy to the skillet once the vegetables have slightly cooked through, and toss well to coat. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the sauce thicken slightly for 5-7 minutes. Once the sauce is thick, remove from the heat and serve. Optionally garnish with spring onions and/or sesame seeds if you'd like. [photo 4]
💭 Expert Tips
- Balance the sauce: If you find the sauce sour because of the chilli sauce you are using, add a couple extra tablespoons of honey or brown sugar to balance out the sauce.
- Do not skip soaking the paneer: This will give you a softer, creamier texture, as if the paneer is homemade.
- Avoid overcrowding: Use a large enough skillet or wok to avoid overcrowding the ingredients. This will keep the heat high, and will prevent the paneer and vegetables from steaming.
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
- Ingredients for the stir fry, like the peppers, onions, and paneer, can be prepped in advance and stored in airtight containers in the fridge. This can be done 1-2 days in advance.
- The chilli sauce can be premixed and stored in an airtight jar 3-4 days in advance. Keep the sauce refrigerated.
- Leftover cooked chilli paneer will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Allow leftovers to cool to room temperature, and store covered in an airtight container.
- Leftovers are best reheated on the stove in a skillet. Microwaving can cause the paneer to become slightly rubbery.
- Avoid freezing leftover chilli paneer. The consistency will likely change, and the sauce will become slightly diluted.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
Substitute tamari, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce in place of regular soy sauce. Ensure you check the labels of other ingredients being used, to keep the recipe entirely gluten-free.
The main difference between the two types of chilli paneer is the amount of sauce used. Gravy chilli paneer has a lot more sauce, whereas dry uses just enough sauce to coat the ingredients.
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Indian Chinese ChillI Paneer (Hakka Restaurant Style)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Paneer - cubed, 1-1 ½"
- 2 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
- ¼ cup Corn starch
- 2 tablespoon Ginger & garlic paste
- 1 Red onion - cut in chunks
- ½ Green bell pepper - cut in chunks
- ½ Red bell pepper - cut in chunks
Chilli Paneer Sauce
- ⅓ cup Soy sauce
- ¼ cup Ketchup
- ¼ cup Sriracha hot sauce
- 2 tablespoon Brown sugar
Instructions
- Bring 1L of water to a boil in a kettle or in a pot on the stove.
- In a measuring cup, mix together the ingredients for the chilli sauce. Set aside.⅓ cup Soy sauce, ¼ cup Ketchup, ¼ cup Sriracha hot sauce, 2 tablespoon Brown sugar
- Add the cubed paneer to a large mixing bowl, and cover with the boiled water. Ensure the paneer is completely submerged in the water, and let the cubes soak for 5-7 minutes until soft.1 lb Paneer
- Once the paneer is soft, drain the water and lightly dab with paper towel to dry off the extra moisture.
- Add the soy sauce and sriracha to the paneer and lightly toss so all the cubes are coated. Sprinkle with corn starch, and toss again to coat the cubes.2 tablespoon Soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce, ¼ cup Corn starch
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and the paneer cubes to the skillet. Let the paneer cubes brown on all sides while tossing occasionally.
- Once the paneer is golden brown, add the ginger & garlic paste, and chunks of bell pepper and red onion to the skillet. Toss well, and let the vegetables sauté until browned and slightly softened.2 tablespoon Ginger & garlic paste, 1 Red onion, ½ Green bell pepper, ½ Red bell pepper
- Add the chilli sauce to the skillet once the vegetables have slightly cooked through, and toss well to ensure everything is well-coated. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the sauce thicken slightly for 5-7 minutes. Once the sauce is thick, remove from the heat and serve.
✱Recipe Notes
- Balance the sauce: If you find the sauce sour because of the chilli sauce you are using, add a couple extra tablespoons of honey or brown sugar to balance out the sauce.
- Do not skip soaking the paneer: This will give you a softer, creamier texture, as if the paneer is homemade.
- Avoid overcrowding: Use a large enough skillet or wok to avoid overcrowding the ingredients. This will keep the heat high, and will prevent the paneer and vegetables from steaming.
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