Quick and Easy Chilli Garlic Paneer (Gravy)

This quick and easy gravy chilli garlic paneer is a classic Indo-Chinese dish, that is a staple in the cuisine. It has a rich gravy filled with both Indian and Chinese flavours. 

This quick and easy spicy and sweet garlic chilli paneer with gravy is such a winner in my house and is of course an Indo-Chinese classic.

Pair this with fried rice, noodles, plain rice, roti or paratha and either way, this is an absolute winner of a dish.

The gravy that is created in the dish is perfect for scooping up with any of the above-listed carbs!

Chilli Paneer Origins

If you know anything about me, it’s that I am an absolute food and history geek! This side absolutely comes out when it comes to literally anything indo-chinese related!

So, the short answer is that chilli paneer originates from Kolkata, India and is a dish that was created by the Hakka Chinese population

Kolkata was actually the closest point of entry from China and so because of that many Chinese people settled in the city of West Bengal. The Chinese Kolikathi people bought their incredible flavours and adopted their Chinese flavours to match an Indian palette.

They became so integrated that Chinese Hakka people learned to speak the local dialect of Kolkata (Bengali) and eventually, some of the Indian-Bengali population learned Hakka Chinese, which is a beautiful thing.

They are and should be embraced as a part of the South Asian community, given the breadth of their contribution to Indian society.

I know that I am super grateful for the Chinese Kolikathi’s contribution, especially because we would have never had the genius invention of chilli paneer without them!

Other dishes that the Hakka Chinese population are famous for are hakka noodles, lollipop chicken, chilli mushrooms and corn, and manchurian balls. My chilli prawns and chilli tofu are also great indo Chinese recipes, if you are looking for more variety.

What is chilli paneer?

For anyone new to paneer, it is a non-melting cheese that originates from the indian subcontinent. It is especially popular in the south-asian community and provides a very solid alternative for vegetarians. Its texture resembles halloumi but its not salty and relatively plain on its own.

Chilli paneer is a paneer dish that is cut up into square cubes that is sometimes placed in a batter, fried (to get it crispy), and tossed in a sauce that is often sweet and spicy. This is a common way of seeing it served, but you will find lots of different ways people serve this up!

The sauce is normally a combination of garlic, onion, chillis and spring onions.

That’s why chilli paneer is so great, as it has all of these added sauces and vegetables making it the perfect bite.

Another paneer recipe that I love is my palak paneer pakoras. Like this recipe, I break down how you can air fry those and also oven bake them! Another easy vegetarian snack that you could look at are my crispy aubergine fry’s. All of these pair so well with karak chai, iced chai or an iced chai latte (if its sunny where you are :)!)

Ingredients for chilli paneer?

• One block of paneer – you can find this at Indian supermarkets and some regular supermarkets also!
• Two green chillis – you can chop and change depending on how spicy you like your dishes! I always normally go for Indian or Kenyan green chillis.
• Two spring onion – these are so essential to the dish, we only use the green part but if you wish to use the whites, toss them in when you are frying the garlic
• One red onion – again if you can get the Indian versions of these, then that would be great
• Three cloves of garlic –
• Sweet peppers (can be green, yellow or red peppers) – I find that red and green peppers work the best in this dish, but if you’re not a fan of peppers then you can also leave out, but the flavours will be a lot stronger without the addition of the vegetables
• Plain flour
• Corn flour – you could also use potato starch instead!

Ingredients for chilli paneer gravy?

• Soy sauce – essential ingredient!
• Dark soy sauce (optional, but for colour)
• Ketchup – essential ingredient!
• Chilli sauce – any chilli sauce will do, i use the maggi brand and use sweet and spicy sauce!
• Cornflour slurry (cornflour and water mixed together) – this is used to thicken the sauce, and is so essential, make sure you don’t skip this step of adding the cornflour slurry
• Honey – this will balance out the saltiness of the soy sauces and also the tanginess of the chilli sauce and ketchup

How to make chilli paneer and chilli paneer gravy?

Follow these quick and simple steps below to make the recipe of chilli paneer gravy!

For the batter:

1. In a mixing bowl, put together around four tablespoons of plain flour, one tablespoon of cornstarch, one tsp of chilli powder and around one tsp of salt
2. Mix that well together and add water until the batter is a thick consistency (around one cup)

For the frying: 

If you are making the traditional version of this recipe, I would highly recommend that you fry the paneer. If you are worried about the oil, you can always do a shallow fry instead!

1. Add all of your chopped paneer cubes into the batter and mix until all of that is coated together well.
2. Seperately heat up a pan of oil. You will know it is ready for frying if you place a drop of batter into the oil and it floats to the top.
3. Grab your paneer cube, one by one, shake off the excess batter and place in the oil. Don’t move the paneer immediately once it is in the oil as it is crisping up and getting brown.
4. Allow that to cook on all sides of the paneer, until it is brown and crispy.
5. Drain the oil with an oil skimmer and place all of your fried paneer cubes into a steel bowl. While its hot, you want to grind on a bit of salt

Place the crispy fried paneer to the side and lets get started on the sauce.

See below if instead, you would like to create crispy air-fried chilli paneer!

For the sauce:

1. Chop up your garlic (finely), chillis (finely), onion (roughly), peppers (roughly), spring onions (finely).
2. Make a cornflour slurry, by combining one tsp of cornflour and water.
3. In a wok, heat up some oil and add in your garlic. Once that becomes fragrant and toasted, add in your peppers. Allow that to cook with your garlic for around a minute or so and then add in your onions. Let this all cook together for around two minutes or so on high heat.
4. Add in around a tablespoon of all of the following (excluding dark soy sauce): Soy sauce, dark soy sauce (half tsp), ketchup, chilli sauce (i used the maggi brand, but any will do), and honey.
5. Add in a splash of water, let that cook together for around a minute on medium heat. You can also add in your chopped spring onions at this stage.
6. To thicken the sauce add in your cornflour slurry, and wait for that to thicken.
7. Once cooked together, add in your paneer cubes and toss that in the sauce and ensure it is all combined really well.
8. Garnish with sesame seeds or more spring onions.

Air frying your paneer?

1. Create the batter in the same way as per the instructions above.
2. Coat your cubed paneer in the batter mix, make sure to let the excess batter drip off before you place in the air fryer. Drizzle or spray some oil over the top.
3. Cook the paneer on the bake mode (at 160°C) for around 15 minutes, and then on the air fryer function at 200°C for a further 5 – 10 minutes so that they can get nice and crispy. (Note that i am using the ninja foodi air fryer so the functions is on this machine, but adjust according to your own air fryer)

How to store?

I would highly reccomend eating and finishing this fresh but if you have leftovers, you can store in the fridge for up to 5 days.