A Recipe for Schezwan Chili Paneer
An vegetarian Indo-Chinese favorite + an additional recipe for Schezwan chutney
The recipe box is a collection of recipes and techniques from my favorite cookbooks—everything from up-and-coming titles to tried-and-true favorites from my collection. (Though you may see some original recipes here from time to time, too 😉) You can check out TOD’s archive of past recipes here if you’re looking for some meal inspiration.
Happy Friday, all! Earlier this week, we heard from writer and content creator Karishma Pradhan (of The Home Cooking Collective) about the emergence of Indo-Chinese cuisine and the current state of the Kolkata-Chinese community—not to mention, we also got her brilliant recipe for Hakka-style noodles. (If you missed that, you can grab it all here).
And now, paid readers, this gem—as in, Karishma’s recipe for Schezwan (the Indian spelling for Sichuan) chili paneer—is for you! This is a sweet, tangy, and fiery stir-fried paneer dish. The base of the sauce comes from Schezwan chutney, made by frying Kashmiri chili paste in oil and aromatics. Kashmiri chilies are a must, because they’re much milder than other varieties and impart a beautiful red hue to the sauce. Still, even tamer Kashmiri chilies will yield a mildly spicy dish. The recipe is meant to be served as an appetizer where the sauce just barely clings to the paneer, but can be adapted into a main dish to serve with rice by thinning out the sauce to form a gravy.