Step 1

Dice paneer in cubes. Pat dry them with a clean kitchen towel.

Step 2

Add them the paneer cubes to a mixing bowl together with red chili powder, black pepper powder, salt and cornstarch.

Step 3

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.

Step 4

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan or kadai or wok. The oil should be medium hot.

Step 5

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.

Step 6

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.

Step 7

Place the pan fried paneer cubes on kitchen paper towels.

Step 8

In the same pan in which the paneer cubes were pan fried there will be some oil. So need to add any oil.

Step 9

Add the chopped onions, capsicum, ginger, green chilies, garlic and celery. Mix well and stir fry the veggies until the capsicum is half-cooked.

Step 10

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.

Step 11

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.

Step 12

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.

Step 13

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.

Step 14

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.

Step 15

Add the cornstarch paste. Stir well and allow to simmer on a medium heat till the sauce thickens - about 1 to 2 minutes.

Step 16

Once the manchurian sauce has thickened, then add the pan-fried paneer cubes.

Step 17

Stir again very well so that the sauce coats the paneer cubes evenly and switch off heat.

Step 18

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.

Step 19

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.

Step 20

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.

Step 21

Make the cornstarch paste with water.

Step 22

Shallow or deep fry the paneer cubes in hot oil. Drain on paper napkins and keep aside.

Step 23

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.

Step 24

When the oil becomes hot add the onions. Stir fry the onions on medium to high heat taking care that they do burn.

Step 25

Let the onions become translucent.

Step 26

Add the ginger, garlic, green chili and celery. Stir for some seconds or a minute.

Step 27

Now add the capsicum if adding them. Stir fry the capsicum also for 2 to 3 mins.

Step 28

Add all the sauces, veg stock or water. Stir well and bring this mixture to a simmer or light boil.

Step 29

Add the cornstarch paste and mix evenly. Simmer until the sauce thickens and reaches your preferred consistency.

Step 30

Now add the shallow fried paneer cubes, vinegar, pepper and salt. Stir and switch off heat.

Step 31

Add the chopped spring onion greens and serve paneer manchurian gravy hot with veg fried rice, steamed rice or veg noodles.