Chilli paneer- easy way

When I entered the world of cooking, I was always on the lookout for easy recipes that would win accolades. This recipe is one such life saviour. It comes handy on many occasions – one, when treating vegetarian guests (enticing vegetarian menu being a huge issue in a non-vegetarian home); two, when you want to add some pizzazz to your everyday meal; three, when you want to put on the table a special surprise for your family in the weekend.

Ingredients:
• Paneer
• Onion (chopped)
• Capsicum (chopped)
• Ginger-garlic paste
• Tomato sauce
• Chilli sauce
• Soya sauce
• Salt
• Oil

Preparation:
• Heat the paneer for 5 minutes in microwave till it softens
• Cut in cubes (it’s easier to cut the paneer when soft, rather than frozen)
• Deep fry the pieces in medium-heat until they start turning red
• Keep aside
• Keep the excess oil aside
• Heat the remaining oil and add onion, then ginger-garlic paste and capsicum and fry
• Mix equal amounts of tomato sauce, chilli sauce and soya sauce with a little water and add it to the pan
• Add salt to taste and bring to a boil. Take care with the salt since the sauces already contain salt.
• Add the paneer cubes and cook for a while to allow them to absorb the sauce. Turn off heat and allow some standing time.
• Serve with noodles, fried rice, roti, paratha or even plain steamed rice.

Note:
• Add water judiciously since a soupy gravy will not taste nice. In case of too much water, add a little diluted flour or cornflour (whisk flour or cornflour with water in a cup so that no lumps form) to thicken the gravy.
• Since all the sauces have salt in them, the quantity of salt used should be adjusted accordingly.

Tip:
• You can also cook chilli chicken, chilli prawn, chilli potato or chilli egg in the same way.
• In case of chicken or prawn, marinate them in vinegar and soya sauce for a couple of hours. Now beat an egg with a pinch of salt. Dip the chicken/prawn pieces in that batter and deep fry. Keep aside.
• In case of potato, chop them into small cubes, boil with a little salt to cook them. In case of eggs, boil them. Now smear eggs or potatoes with soya sauce and deep fry them. Rest of the procedure is just like paneer.