Paneer Manchurian Recipe (step by step)

Paneer Manchurian is one of the most incredible Indo-Chinese recipes. It is one of the easy paneer dishes of Indo-Chinese cuisine and ideal party food as well.

Cooking paneer with veggies is an Indian custom while searing Manchurian is a Chinese cooking practice. A mix of both these techniques gives you a crunchy, deep and spicy flavored Paneer Manchurian which is good enough to give a surreal experience to your taste buds.

This Indo-Chinese combination Paneer Manchurian recipe can be arranged either dry with a light, sweet, salty, or tangy sauce. Or on the other hand, make a saucy form with a heavier sauce that is wonderful to appreciate over fried rice.

This main dish or snack can be made with either frying option, and can also be prepared with your choice of a thin sauce or a thick, rich gravy. I share these two versions:

Paneer Manchurian Dry (Restaurant Style) – A dry snack version that’s tossed in a light sauce.
Paneer Manchurian Gravy – A version with a rich gravy-like sauciness.

Both versions are delicious! They include a mixture of soy sauce, ketchup, chili sauce, fresh veggies, and bright aromatics for just the right balance of sweet, salty, and umami flavors.

If you want to enjoy dry or masala Paneer Manchurian just avoid adding water and just drizzle it with extra sauce!

Ingredients for Paneer Manchurian

250 gm paneer / cottage cheese
½ cup maida / plain flour / all-purpose flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
salt to taste
½ cup water (add as required)
Oil for frying

For Sauté

2 tablespoons Cooking Oil
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Paste
1/2 teaspoon Ginger Paste
½ onion (finely chopped)
1/4 cup finely chopped Capsicum
1 Green Chilli, finely chopped
1 spring onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
1/2 tablespoon Chilli Sauce
2 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
Salt to taste

Directions for Paneer Manchurian:

Cut paneer (cottage cheese) into small cubes.
Firstly take a large mixing bowl.
Add maida flour, cornflour, chili powder, and salt to the bowl.
Mix well making sure all the dry ingredients are combined well.
Now slowly add water as required and make a thick batter.
Add paneer cubes in the prepared batter, mix and let them marinate for 20 minutes.
Heat oil in kadai (pan).
Deep fry batter-coated paneer cubes over medium flame until they turn golden brown.
Finally, drain the fried paneer on a kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil.

Directions for Sauté:

Firstly, in a large Kadai add 3 tsp oil.
Add ginger paste, garlic paste, and sauté for 30 seconds on medium flame.
Add chopped green chili, diced capsicum, and diced onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add soy sauce, tomato ketchup, chili sauce, and salt.
Add fried paneer pieces and spring onion; mix well.
Toss everything multiple times and cook for 1-2 minutes on high flame.
Paneer Manchurian dry is ready. Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve.

For Gravy Version

Just Add water and Increase the quantity of sauces at the 4th step of Directions for Sauté and your Gravy Paneer Manchurian is ready.

Serving Suggestions

Serve it as a starter or as an evening snack with tomato ketchup and chili sauce.

Paneer Manchurian can be also served with dishes like Veg Hakka Noodles, Veg Fried Rice, or Schezwan Fried Rice. Serve it hot as a snack or appetizer garnished with spring onion greens.

Tips to make the best Paneer Manchurian

firstly, shallow fry if you don’t want to use more oil.
furthermore, to get the bright red color, add a pinch of red food color.
also, add capsicum to make it tastier.
finally, serve paneer Manchurian immediately else they will not taste great.
The prepared batter should not be too thick or too thin. Thin batter will not coat paneer cubes well and the thick batter will not make a crisp outer layer.
Chilli sauce and soy sauce are the main flavoring ingredients in any Manchurian recipe. You can adjust the quantity of these two sauces to get the desired flavor.