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Paneer Manchurian Recipe – Dry And Gravy

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Prepare the Paneer Manchurian Recipe in dual styles. Experience the fantastic rendition of a Dry Paneer Manchurian, resembling restaurant-quality, with a health-conscious twist. Additionally, relish the delectable and effortless Paneer Manchurian Gravy option.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Indian
Servings 3
Calories 415 kcal

Ingredients
  

Dry Paneer Manchurian – Recipe 1

  • 250 grams Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch or corn flour – for paneer marinade
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper powder (ground black pepper) or white pepper – for paneer marinade
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper – for paneer marinade
  • ½ teaspoon salt or add as required – for paneer marinade
  • 3 tablespoons oil – for pan frying paneer
  • ⅓ cup onions cut into 1 inch squares or ⅓ cup chopped spring onion whites
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
  • 1 to 2 teaspoon finely chopped celery – optional
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped green chilies
  • ½ cup capsicum diced into 1 inch squares, any color capsicum – red, green or yellow (bell peppers)
  • 1.5 to 2 tablespoon tomato ketchup
  • ½ tablespoon soy sauce or add as required
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder or white pepper
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ¼ cup water
  • salt as required
  • ½ teaspoon sugar – optional
  • ½ teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar

For Paneer Manchurian Gravy – Recipe 2

  • 200  grams Paneer or firm tofu
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced capsicum or 1 small-sized, optional
  • 1 to 1.25 cups water or vegetable stock
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • ½ cup chopped spring onion whites (scallion whites)
  • 1 green chilli – finely chopped or ½ to 1 teaspoon chopped
  • 1 inch ginger – finely chopped
  • 5 to 6 garlic cloves – small to medium-sized – finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon celery  – finely chopped, optional
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoon tomato ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
  • salt as required
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons oil – for frying the paneer
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped spring onions – for garnish
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch – to make cornstarch paste
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons water – to make cornstarch paste
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch – for paneer marinade
  • ¼ teaspoon finely chopped ginger – for paneer marinade
  • ¼ teaspoon finely chopped garlic – for paneer marinade
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper powder or as required, for paneer marinade
  • salt as required, for paneer marinade

Instructions
 

Making Dry Paneer Manchurian – Recipe 1

  • Dice paneer in cubes. Pat dry them with a clean kitchen towel.
  • Add them the paneer cubes to a mixing bowl together with red chili powder, black pepper powder, salt and cornstarch.
  • Gently shake, toss and mix. Everything should be well mixed. You could also mix the corn starch and the spice powders first and then add the paneer cubes to it.
  • Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan or kadai or wok. The oil should be medium hot.
  • Add the paneer cubes. Flip and pan fry so that all the sides get cooked evenly. For a crisp version, you will need to shallow fry or deep fry the paneer cubes.
  • Pan fry till the paneer cubes are light golden. Don't fry for a longer period of time as the paneer cubes might become dense.
  • Place the pan fried paneer cubes on kitchen paper towels.
  • In the same pan in which the paneer cubes were pan fried there will be some oil. So need to add any oil.
  • Add the chopped onions, capsicum, ginger, green chilies, garlic and celery. Mix well and stir fry the veggies until the capsicum is half-cooked.
  • Whilst the veggies are getting stir fried, in the same bowl in which the paneer cubes were mixed, there will be leftover corn starch & the spice powder mixture. 
  • You will only get this dry mixture if the paneer cubes were dry. Add ¼ cup water and make a paste of the remaining corn starch & spice powder mixture.
  • If the paneer cubes were moist, then you will need to make a separate cornstarch paste. Dissolve 1 tablespoon corn starch with 3 tablespoon water.
  • Add soy sauce and tomato ketchup to the stir-fried veggies. Adding 1.5 tbsp tomato ketchup make the dish sweet. For an extra sweetness, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup can be added. Stir. You can also add about ½ teaspoon of sugar.
  • Then season with salt, red chili powder and black pepper. Add less salt as both soy sauce, tomato sauce and the cornstarch paste we made, already has salt in them.
  • Add the cornstarch paste. Stir well and allow to simmer on a medium heat till the sauce thickens – about 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Once the manchurian sauce has thickened, then add the pan-fried paneer cubes.
  • Stir again very well so that the sauce coats the paneer cubes evenly and switch off heat.
  • Lastly add rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar or regular white vinegar. Stir. Check the taste and add more salt, soy sauce, vinegar or black pepper if required.
  • Serve dry paneer manchurian snack hot garnished with celery or some spring onion greens. You can also garnish it with chopped coriander leaves or parsley.

Making Paneer Manchurian Gravy

  • Mix all the ingredients for the paneer marinade. Add paneer to the marinade to the paneer. Toss the mixture well, so that the paneer is well coated with the marinade.
  • Make the cornstarch paste with water.
  • Shallow or deep fry the paneer cubes in hot oil. Drain on paper napkins and keep aside.
  • Remove the extra oil from the wok or kadai and keep about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok or pan. Or choose to heat 1 tablespoon oil in a fresh pan or skillet.
  • When the oil becomes hot add the onions. Stir fry the onions on medium to high heat taking care that they do burn.
  • Let the onions become translucent.
  • Add the ginger, garlic, green chili and celery. Stir for some seconds or a minute.
  • Now add the capsicum if adding them. Stir fry the capsicum also for 2 to 3 mins.
  • Add all the sauces, veg stock or water. Stir well and bring this mixture to a simmer or light boil.
  • Add the cornstarch paste and mix evenly. Simmer until the sauce thickens and reaches your preferred consistency.
  • Now add the shallow fried paneer cubes, vinegar, pepper and salt. Stir and switch off heat.
  • Add the chopped spring onion greens and serve paneer manchurian gravy hot with veg fried rice, steamed rice or veg noodles.

Nutrition

Calories: 415kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 13gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 1058mgPotassium: 128mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gCalcium: 417mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Paneer Manchurian
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