Bihari Paneer Chilli: The way you like it

"The way you like it", you might be wondering why I wrote that. It is just because you can adjust the below mentioned recipe according to your convenience and to make it simple. You will see how while reading through.

Patna, my home town in India, for me is a paradise of good food. Be it the food on the street or the food at home, I have loved them all. Those school days when I used to get 1 Re everyday from Dadi (my beloved grandmother ) every morning. I used those for buying my all time favorite Samosas (yes, they are still my favorite snacks). Those favorite hang outs in the street next to Tapasya Complex for a treat of Egg Roll, Egg Chowmein or Paneer/Chicken  Chilli. Oh yes! The Paneer Dish I always missed after I moved out of Patna was Paneer Chilli. The taste of them have always been as fresh as if I had just had them yesterday. But I must mention that I have never been able to find the Paneer Chilli as delicious as the one prepared by my Ma. Never knew the secret till, one day, I bumped across one of the recipes very close to the one I suspected would be like the Bihari Paneer Chicken. Once I finished preparing it and tasted it , yumm!!!! Though it was not the same and as delicious as the one prepared by Ma,  it was close. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Paneer 400 gms, diced ( size depends on your choice)

Sunflower Oil (or any cooking oil) 4 tbsp

Onion 1 large

Garlic 2-3 cloves, finely chopped

Ginger 1 inch, finely chopped.

Cornflour 1 tablespoon

Soya sauce: 1 tablespoon

Vinegar: 2 teaspoon

Green Chilly: 2-3 Chopped.

Tomato ketchup/sauce: 2 tablespoon

Black pepper powder: to taste

Salt to taste

Instruction:

Prepare the Paneer: 10 Mins

Put 2 tbsp Cooking oil in a frying pan and let it heat. Once it gets heated up (you can check the heat by putting a very small piece of paneer in the oil and it starts frying up), put the diced paneer in small chunks to fry. Do not put the whole of it in once. It becomes difficult to fry all in once. As soon as it starts getting patches of brown, take them out and keep them aside.

Prepare the sauce: 10-15 Mins

In the oil that is left after frying Paneer, add rest of the oil and let it heat. Once it is heated, put chopped onion, ginger, garlic and green chilly. Fry them till they become tender and the onions looks transparent(ish). To the fried vegetables, add vinegar and stir for a minute. Add tomato ketchup and Soybean Sauce and let them cook on high heat/flame for around 5 mins. Keep Stirring as this sauce has a tendency of sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring till the sauce starts turning deep red. Add Salt and pepper and mix well. While the sauce is already on heat, add the fried paneer. Make the sauce envelope the Paneer. Add 1 cup of water and let it cook for 5 mins on high flame. The main secret of this recipe to taste the way it is , is the cooking of the sauce and caramelizing it. After 5 mins, add water to the cornflour so that it just dilutes. Pour the cornflour mixture into the sauce while stirring it. The sauce will get thicker while you cook for another 2-3 minutes.

You are done. Serve it hot with Roti, Tandoori Roti or Naan. They taste the best with them. No matter what people say about the combination, we have always loved it this way. So, have fun with my recipe on Paneer Chilli Bihari Style :)

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