Crisp cornflour-battered paneer tossed with capsicum and onion in a gingery chilli sauce, the notebook's foray into Indo-Chinese, kept as an occasional treat.
Lunch · 20 min prep · 15 min cook · serves 3 Newly added
Ingredients
- 250 g paneer , cut into batons
- 3 tbsp corn flour
- 2 tbsp maida (refined flour)
- 4 tbsp water , for the batter
- 1 capsicum , sliced
- 1 onion , quartered and separated
- 2 green chili , slit
- 1 tbsp ginger (fresh) , julienned
- 4 cloves garlic , sliced
- 1 tbsp green chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup , optional
- to taste rock salt
- 3 tbsp oil , for frying and tossing
Preparation
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Whisk the corn flour, maida, salt and water into a thin batter; coat the paneer batons.
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Shallow-fry the batons in hot oil until pale gold at the edges; drain on paper.
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In a wide pan with a tablespoon of hot oil, flash-fry the ginger, garlic, green chili, onion and capsicum on high heat for 2 minutes; they should stay crisp.
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Add the sauces with 2 tablespoons of water; let it bubble to a glaze.
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Return the paneer and toss to coat for a minute; serve immediately, scattered with spring onion if at hand.
In the tradition
Every family cookbook eventually leaves home; this page is the notebook doing exactly that, Indo-Chinese restaurant cooking written in the same hand as the amti. It is kept here with its onions, garlic and sauces intact, because a family record should tell the truth about what the family ate.
Sources & further reading
- Family recipe notebook (recipe #37, "Paneer Chilli: paneer, capsicum, onion, green chilli sauce, corn flour, salt, maida, ginger garlic paste")
Classical citations mark where a tradition is drawn on; modern books are shared as further reading, not as prescriptions.