Chilli Paneer Dry (Sakoni Style)

This delicious Chilli Paneer is a copycat of the Sakoni restaurant version. Chilli Paneer is a popular Indo-Chinese dish made with paneer cubes, green bell pepper and fresh chillies with a soy sauce gravy. It's a flavourful dish that's perfect as an appetizer, side or main.

There are many versions of chilli paneer such as a dry version or with a gravy. Some recipes follow a more chilli sauce base (more Indian) and some are more soy sauce based for a Chinese style chilli paneer.

Since I first tried Paneer Chilli in an Indian restaurant in London called Sakoni, I've been striving to perfect my version! This recipe is a copycat of the Sakoni's version.

I have incorporated this paneer recipe into in this fusion recipe Instant Pot Bao Buns 3 ways recipe.

I took inspiration from this chilli paneer to make chilli paneer noodles.

Chili Paneer Ingredients

Full ingredients with measurements are available in the recipe card below at the end of this post

Paneer – you can use either homemade or shop bought here. The paneer should be soft.

Green Chillies – you will need plenty of fresh green chillies for this dry chilli paneer as they provide the majority of the spicy flavour. You won't require any red chilli powder for this recipe.

Garlic and Ginger paste – this recipe requires a generous helping of garlic and ginger.

Capsicum – we have used green peppers only and a small amount as we don’t want the peppers to sweeten the chilli paneer.

Soy sauce – use a mix of light and dark soy sauce.

Chilli sauce – you only need a small amount of chili sauce, as we don’t want the chilli paneer to gain a tangy or sweet taste.

Corn starch - to give the paneer a crispy texture and to create a slurry. I am not using purpose flour, if you wish you can.

Oil – we use olive oil to shallow fry the paneer and toasted sesame oil to cook the sauce. The sesame seed oil gives a more Chinese cuisine flavour to this restaurant style chilli paneer recipe.

Spring onions - slice the spring onions to garnish.

Lettuce - this version tastes amazing served on a bed of lettuce.

How to make Sakoni Chilli Paneer Dry

Full printable recipe in recipe card below.

Make sure all the ingredients are pre-prepared on the worktop as this recipe requires you to work quickly.  
First, cut paneer into bite-size small cubes.

In a mixing bowl, toss it some of the soy sauce and cornflour.

Shallow fry coated paneer in a pan using some oil until golden brown and you achieve crispy paneer. This is an alternative to deep frying.

Remove the paneer pieces from the pan and set it aside.

In the same pan heat sesame oil on medium-high heat. 

Tip minced ginger-garlic into the hot oil, but do not allow it to brown.

Add the cut green pepper and green chillies and sauté on high flame.

Add remaining soy and red chilli sauce and black pepper powder.

Prepare a cornstarch slurry in a small bowl and mix in. Mix well. 

Tip in the fried paneer cubes.

Add chopped spring onion, mix and turn the heat off. 

Serve it with fresh lettuce salad leaves.

Air Fryer Chilli Paneer

You can also air fryer the paneer cubes instead of pan frying.

Cut the paneer and coat just as in the recipe above but add oil also.

Place the coated paneer in the air fryer basket.

Air Fry for around 5-7 minutes at 200 C or 400 F or until golden brown and crispy.

Continue the recipe as stated above.

Pro Tips & Recipe Notes

If your chillies are spicy, use less. Try to buy chillies that are not as spicy so you can add the amount required for this recipe. 

This is quite a spicy recipe, particularly as it follows the Sakoni flavours. You can use sweet chilli sauce or ketchup instead of chilli sauce but note that it will change the original flavour. 

For a gravy version of this same recipe, you can add more corn flour slurry to make the spicy sauce. Note that it will not be sakoni style anymore!

You do not want to soften the ingredients too much but retain their crunch. 

Serving Suggestions

Sakoni style chilli paneer is best served on a bed of lettuce. You can have it as an indo chinese appetizer, as main course or alongside some other vegetarian food. 

You could try it with boiled jasmine rice or plain noodles too. 

If guests are coming over, you might like these Maru Bhajia (Crispy Potato Bhajia), Masala Chips and Mogo Chips. Maybe even some Bhel Puri! 

Keep a glass of sweet lassi on the side. 

Storage

Store leftover chilli paneer in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days.

I do not recommend freezing the recipe or else the vegetables and paneer will loose their texture. 

More Indo-Chinese Recipes

Air fryer Gobi Manchurian

Masala Mogo

Schezwan Fried Rice

Hakka Noodles

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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Note:- This post was originally posted in January 2010 but I have updated the post since with newer photos and helpful content. The recipe remains the same.