Recipes #1: Chilli Chicken/Paneer

Chilli Chicken/Paneer is a delightful Indo-Chinese (yes, it is a real thing and it is absolutely delightful) dish that seamlessly blends Chinese cooking techniques with Indian flavors. It’s spicy, savory, tangy, slightly sweet, amd oh-so-aromatic. It’s one of those dishes that make you salivate at the sight and smell of it, and makes your tear up in happiness at the spice and flavor of it. That’s all well and good, Aakash, you might say, but how do we get to making it already!? Aight, let’s get into it real quickly.

Ingredients (Serves 2–3)

Marinade

• 1 egg white, beaten (keeps the chicken tender and juicy)
• 3 tbsp cornflour (for an amazing crispy coating)
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp red chilli powder

Sauce

• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 0.5 cup tomato puree
• Oil (preferably a neutral tasting oil)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 6–7 garlic cloves
• 4 green chillies, sliced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp vinegar
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp sugar

Stir Fry

• 350–400 gm boneless diced chicken (paneer, tofu, and pork work equally well)
• 2 bell peppers
• 1 onion (peeled in concentric circles)

Steps

This is one of the quickest things to make, even for an unseasoned chef. In fact, this was one of the few food items I learnt cooking with and this is the recipe I created after referring to several blogs and practicing for a while. As with any recipe, feel free to tailor spices to your taste but the broad overview should help quite a bit.

• Mix together the egg, cornflour, ginger and garlic paste, 2 tsp salt, and some water to make a thick marinade.
• Coat your protein with this batter and let it sit for about 2–3 hours in the refrigerator. You can do a quick version in 30 minutes or so but the coating will not be uniform. Ideally, you will get the best results if you can leave the coated protein in for 6 hours.
• We first cook our protein. Heat oil in a wok or a pan and deep-fry the batter-covered protein dices over high heat to begin with followed by a lower heat level.
• Fry until the protein is cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper. At this point, you should have a nice and crispy protein snack which you can feel free to indulge in as-is (I have, every time I have cooked this dish).
• Next, we stir-fry our veggies. This is because they tend to be less firm than the protein and can become too soggy if left for a longer while out.
• Heat some oil in a wok, add onions and stir-fry until they are translucent. Toss in your bell peppers, add some green chillies and saute for a bit. Take them out in a separate dish.
• In a wok, heat some oil and stir in the garlic cloves for 30 seconds, seasoning them with salt and red chilli powder. Add soy sauce, vinegar, tomato puree, and sugar. Cook until the sauce is consistent. This should take around 3–4 minutes. Adjust flavoring to your taste.
• Once the sauce is done, toss in the stir-fried veggies and the protein to ensure even coating.

That’s it. At this point, just grab a few naans or hakka noodles and go ham with this delectable dish.

I might not be the best food photographer but this was extremely yum :))