Chilli paneer – an ‘Indian Chinese’ staple
When most of us Indians eat Chinese food here, it actually has very little to do with food in China. ‘Indian Chinese’ is its own hypebeast, a mishmash of Indian spices and vaguely Chinese flavours, melded together to make a truly singular cuisine. Most Chinese would be utterly flabbergasted at finding dishes like chicken Manchurian, Hakka noodles, triple Schezwan and chicken lollipop on the menu – you’re never going to find any of these in its supposedly native country.
But that’s not to say it isn’t delicious. Indian Chinese is madly, deeply, ridiculously tasty and utterly addictive and it is my biggest carb weakness. It’s a solid wallop of flavour, tailored to the Indian palate. And chilli paneer is a dish you’ll find in every ‘Chinese’ restaurant – think soft cubes of farmer-style cheese tossed in an umami soy-based sauce with scallions, peppers and chillies. It’s finger food, a favourite bar snack and now keto friendly. You haven’t lived till you’ve tried this keto chilli paneer.
Does it have to be paneer? What is paneer anyway?
Paneer is the most widely available cheese in India, a fresh farmer’s cheese you can buy in blocks from any neighbourhood supermarket or dairy. But, it can be also be made at home in under five minutes (plus pressing time) – we’ve even got a video to show you how. No paneer and no time to make it? Don’t worry, this recipe works just as great with chicken, beef, pork or even just vegetables. The only thing you want to be careful about is finding a low-carb soy sauce, because a lot of them tend to contain sugar. This keto chilli paneer is magic – it’s a great side dish, it’s easy to make and it’s hella impressive. Do give it a go!
Nutrition Info (Per serving)
- Calories: 486
- Net Carbs: 8g
- Carbs: 9g
- Fat: 38g
- Protein: 24g
- Fiber: 1g
This recipe makes 2 servings. Get this recipe on myfitnesspal.
- 250 grams Paneer
- 50 grams Onion
- 80 grams Capsicum
- 5 grams Ginger
- 5 grams garlic
- 20 grams Spring Onion
- 1 Tbsp Vinegar Try this one
- 2 Tsp Soya Sauce Try this one
- 1 Tsp Chilly Sauce I use this one
- 1 Tbsp olive oil I recommend this one
- Salt to Taste
- Pepper to taste
- Cut the paneer into big chunks, season with salt & pepper.
- Fry till golden brown on either side and cut into bite size pieces
- Fry the ginger and garlic and green chilli in a wok
- Add in the onions and capsicum
- Add in the vinegar, soya sauce, chilli sauce and some water
- Cook for 2 minutes and add in the paneer
- Cook till all the liquid is dried up.
- Garnish with spring onion greens
- Serve HOT!
41 Comments
Ashima
November 27, 2017 at 7:47 amHi Sahil, Thank you for sharing this recipe. For some reason, I am unable to search for this recipe in myfitnesspal. If I go through the link here, I can see the recipe but cannot log it to my food diary. Can you please check the links/ code? Thanks once again!
Sahil Makhija
November 27, 2017 at 11:43 amhey Ashima, the code is correct. I’m not sure why you are unable to log it. You might have to manually enter it into the ‘my foods’ section of your own profile if you are unable to log it from here.
Rishab Joshi
December 10, 2017 at 4:26 amHow much can I eat it on daily basis in a keto diet, And can i only eat this for a month?
Sahil Makhija
December 12, 2017 at 4:13 amYou need to calculate your own macros depending on your height and weight and you can but why would you want to eat the same thing for 1 month?
sonika
December 26, 2017 at 10:59 pmis paneer not dairy?i thought its not allowed on kito
Sahil Makhija
December 27, 2017 at 7:49 amPaneer is dairy and is allowed on keto. I’m not sure who has told you that dairy is not ok but it’s fine to consume. It does hamper weight loss in some people so there are folks who try keto without it when they reach a weight stall or something.
Asmita
January 13, 2018 at 10:27 amHi Sahil, thanks for the receipe. Can I freeze the cooked dish for 4-5 days? If yes, should I pan fry it again to rehead or just microwaving it for a couple of minutes do? Thanks!
Sahil Makhija
January 15, 2018 at 4:16 pmYes you can make and freeze it and reheat in the microwave no problem
Manmeet K Kohli
January 15, 2018 at 7:49 amyou are awesome! love your videos and recepies! thanks for this!
Manmeet K Kohli
January 15, 2018 at 7:49 amdo you have a recepie for gobi Manchurian?
Sahil Makhija
January 15, 2018 at 4:22 pmNot yet but can work on it soon.
samta
February 11, 2018 at 2:48 pmsahil isint soya sauce high on carbs
Sahil Makhija
February 11, 2018 at 3:57 pmYes it has carbs but we are using a very small amount. See the final macros I have mentioned. Fit them into your daily intake. Also look for a soya sauce that is good quality so you don’t get something filled with sugar.
Karthik Balachander
February 28, 2018 at 2:43 amBRO. This was delicious. Made it exactly the way you said and my mouth waters even after I am done eating. Awesome job on the recipe. Keep doing more good ones.
-Cheers
KBC
Sahil Makhija
February 28, 2018 at 2:19 pmSo glad to hear that!
Reshma
April 7, 2018 at 1:44 pmHi Sahil,
Do you make your own chilli sauce for this recipe? If so, can you share the recipe for that?
Sahil Makhija
April 9, 2018 at 5:08 amNo just used some Sriracha.
Khushi
May 15, 2018 at 12:50 amHi Sahil
Thankyou soo much for all your recipes. Thy r amazinggg
Btw ca
N i substitute the paneer with chicken? If yes then how would the nutrition info change?
Sahil Makhija
May 29, 2018 at 12:34 pmAbsolutely!! But you need to calculate the macros again by creating the new recipe.
Keith
June 3, 2018 at 6:17 amThank you for the recipe. Would appreciate if you named the low carb sugar free soy sauce that you have used.
Sahil Makhija
June 4, 2018 at 4:14 amJust used a normal Soya sauce that I could find.
rahul sharma
June 14, 2018 at 3:02 amwhy didn’t you open your restaurant with all keto dishes in Toronto, Canada
Sahil Makhija
June 15, 2018 at 3:42 amBecause I live in Mumbai India.
Nita
October 11, 2018 at 4:36 amRofl
sheena
June 17, 2018 at 11:06 pmThis was AWESOME thank you! I used a chili garlic sauce, as the sriracha here has sugar as a main ingredient. It tasted amazing and easy to make.
Nandita Gill
July 30, 2018 at 7:30 amHi Sahil,
My daughter’s on Keto and I’s busy trying all your recipes. The first dish I made was the prawn in greens. Loved it. Tried the tikkis, flopped badly but this morning made the upma. Yum..
Looking forward to everything good and yummy from your end.
Anjali
July 31, 2018 at 11:02 pmHi Sahil! This looks amazing! I cannot wait to try it! I am wondering where all the carbs are coming from, is there something that can be substituted or omitted to reduce rhe 8g net carbs?
Sahil Makhija
August 1, 2018 at 4:29 amThe soya sauce, the onions, the peppers. the paneer itself also has carbs.
Harkirat Singh
August 27, 2018 at 5:21 amWhich low carb soy dice do you recommend?
Sahil Makhija
August 27, 2018 at 8:32 amI don’t eat soy dice so look around in the local supermarket and read the nutrition info and ingredients and make a choice.
Farah
August 31, 2018 at 11:15 amHey Sahil,
This is awesome. I’ve been on Keto+If for a week now and definitely finding meal prep the hardest bit. Sunny mentioned your site, and I’m finding it very useful.
Thanks !
Punam Paul
September 16, 2018 at 10:16 amYour recipes are awesome. Every dish of yours I tried was delicious will surely try this too.
Akanksha Sharma
November 21, 2018 at 7:59 amHi Sahil, I just checked that Soya Sauce has sugar. Which brand do you use? Is that without sugar. My understanding in Keto is that we must completely avoid sugar even if it is small qty. What are your thoughts?
Sahil Makhija
November 22, 2018 at 2:28 amI use Lindt chocolate 85% in my cooking which has sugar. Honestly I don’t have an issue as long as my carbs are in the 20-30 gram range. I use whatever Soya sauce I can find, normally I try and get a light one that has less carbs but living in India I have limited choice. I just make sure it’s a good quality Soya sauce and not some cheap brand. See there is a difference between trying to sneak in a tsp of sugar into your food vs a fraction of a % that’s there in a sauce or a chocolate that’s used in a dish that makes 3-4 servings and it’s adding just 1 or 2 carbs to that serving. So it works for me.
Chris
April 5, 2019 at 6:05 pmThis was soooo good! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Mary J
May 1, 2019 at 10:15 amI’m new to keto (been into it for about a week now) and was already missing food that we get easily in India 🙁 I was missing the spicy, Indian tangy food and was looking for a quick fix! I’m glad I found your channel on Youtube, and made this recipe today, and what a joy it was to eat my lunch today! Thanks, Sahil!
RobD
May 13, 2019 at 4:07 pmHi what’s the name of the green pepper? I don’t see it on your list of ingredients. Thanks!
Sahil Makhija
May 13, 2019 at 5:36 pmhey Rob, the green bell pepper is called capsicum in India. 🙂
Pallavi
August 19, 2019 at 4:18 amHey….usually i see sugar in ingredients in Siracha sauces… Though they are low in carbs(as per ingredients list) but they have sugar…so is it okay to have such siracha sauce?
Sahil Makhija
August 20, 2019 at 2:16 amI use them. It all depends on how strict you want to be. I’m not that strict. I will probably at some point make my own sriracha as well. Till then I’ll use the one I get at the store. I’ll try and find the best one, plus I use so little it’s negligible.
malvi Parekh
April 8, 2020 at 4:43 pmHi Sahil, tried chilly paneer and it was nice. My son is on keto and follows jain cuisine. Kindly send to me personally on malvi.parekh@sergeferrari.com any jain indian keto dish if you can pls. Thanks