It is an easy & quick paneer dish using the homemade hot garlic sauce that I shared last week. However, in case you want to use off the shelf condiments, I am sharing alternative way as well to make the hot garlic sauce. Soft and crispy air fried chunks of paneer in a fiery & garlicky sauce - yes please! This dish goes well with fried rice, noodles or if you make it thickish, you can serve it for appetizer course as well. Whenever we used to eat out indo chinese food, either paneer or mixed vegetables or chicken in hot garlic was a must thing to order. Here in this recipe, hot garlic sauce with its bold flavors is a beautiful combination with the creaminess of paneer. I love it with noodles, however my husband likes it with either plain jasmine rice or with fried rice. I highly recommend that you make a batch of the hot garlic sauce.The sauce can be made days ahead and once you have a jar in the fridge, whipping up this recipe is a breeze!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need
Paneer - Paneer aka un aged indian cheese is used for making a variety of indo chinese dishes and here in this recipe I like using malai paneer. You can use homemade paneer as well. For Coating Paneer - Red Chilli Flakes, Black Pepper, garlic, oil & salt. For The Sauce - Hot Garlic Sauce (see below for alternative condiments), Soy sauce, Honey. Cornstarch, Vegetable stock(or water).
In case you aren’t using homemade hot garlic sauce combine together and use
¼ cup sriracha or Red Chilli Garlic Sauce (Ching’s or Mother’s Recipe brands are my favorite) 1 tablespoon red chilli flakes 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 4 garlic cloves chopped
How Can we Make Paneer in Hot Garlic Sauce
Air Fry The Paneer
Coat the paneer chunks in chilli flakes,minced garlic, black pepper, corn starch oil and salt. Air fry the paneer at 400F for 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly crispy. Once done, let cool in the air fryer rack or basket while you work on the sauce.
Tip:- If you want, you can shallow or deep fry the paneer if you wish. Make a little wet batter in that case by using ¼ to ⅓ cup cornstarch and 3-4 tablespoon water.
Make The Sauce
In a wok or any wide pan, heat yo the oil and add the chopped onions, garlic and ginger. Saute on high heat for 2 minutes until translucent.
Add the hot garlic sauce, soy sauce, honey and salt next and mix together with onions.Saute for 1-2 minutes till you see little bubbles of oil.
Next, add the vegetable stock and let cook on medium flame. Once the vegetable stock is slightly bubbly, add the cornstarch slurry while stirring regularly and let the sauce cook for 2-3 minutes until it thickens slightly. If you want you can add more cornstarch to adjust the consistency to your liking.
Combine Together
Add in the green bell pepper and paneer and everything cook on medium flame for 3-4 minutes.
Taste and adjust the vinegar, salt and sweetness to your liking if needed. Keep in mind that the hot garlic sauce has vinegar.
Variations
Make a Thick Sauce- And serve as a delicious paneer starter/appetizer at your next party. Skip the vegetable stock & cornstarch in the recipe. Make it Less Spicy- You can reduce the quantity of hot garlic sauce. Make it Vegan - Use tofu instead of paneer and check to make sure that the vegetable stock is vegan friendly, else use water. Mix in Vegetables - Add blanched vegetables like carrots, green beans, mushrooms, baby corn to the sauce along with paneer.
Some Tips
Cut the paneer in not too thick nor too thin square pieces. Too small break down in sauce and too thick taste a bit off. Prepare everything before you start making the sauce. Indo chinese cooking is a quick, high heat cooking and prepping will help maintain the taste and texture of the sauce and final dish. If you cook asian or indo chinese dishes frequently, I highly recommend investing in a wok. You will be surprised by how better your dishes will taste.
