Paneer 65 is one of the most popular starter dishes that you will find easily on the menu of South Indian restaurants or street-side shops with similar other “65” recipes like gobi 65, aloo 65 and bread 65, etc. A spicy, delicious, and irresistible snack made with deep-fried paneer cubes tossed in a lip-smacking spicy, slightly tangy sauce.
What is Paneer 65?
A protein-filled snack or appetizer is the vegetarian substitute for Chicken 65 that originated in the Buhari Hotel in Chennai. There are many tales behind the name “chicken 65”. Some stated that this chicken 65 was item number 65 on the restaurant menu. Some say that 65 ingredients are required in making this dish and the most interesting fact is 65 days old chicken was used for this dish.
There are so many options of the ’65’ recipes including Bread 65, Gobhi 65, Aloo 65, and Mushroom 65, etc. This paneer 65 is another delectable Indian version of chicken 65. It is crispy from the outside and soft and chewy from the inside. It is a great option as a starter, snack, or even as a side dish for lunch or dinner.
In many places, the paneer 65 has a different taste because they all have their recipe with few different ingredients. Some use yogurt while frying the paneer and some use lemon juice and for the tempering, some use soy sauce and some make use of tomato sauce.
You will find too many different variations and versions of paneer 65 – the gravy version and dry or semi-dry. Today I am sharing the semi-dry version which can be served with chili sauce on the side.
Ingredients
- For this recipe, you require only basic ingredients that can be easily found from your pantry. A soft paneer cubes but firm.
- Second, a marinade using ginger, garlic, curry leaves, red chili powder, lemon juice along with all-purpose flour, cornflour, and rice flour is used to make the marinade which gives a flavorsome and crispy outer coated paneer.
- Then for the tempering, the deep-fried or shallow-fried, or air-fried paneer cubes are re-fried in a spicy slightly tangy sauce using garlic, curry leaves, green chilies, chili sauce, yogurt, etc.
- As per the liking, the ingredients and the level of spiciness can be adjusted.
How to make Paneer 65
You will get here a very simple and quick process to make paneer 65 that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. To begin with first marinade paneer cubes with spice powders and with few other ingredients. Keep aside. Next prepare a batter along with maida, cornflour, salt, yogurt, lemon juice, etc. Dip and coat each paneer piece into the batter, remove excess hot oil, and deep fry until crisp. To make a sauce, use curry leaves, green chilies, etc., and tossed paneer well into the sauce. Finally, garnish it with some chopped spring onion leaves. Serve with onion rings and lemon wedges on the side.
Serving suggestions
- It is best to serve hot as an appetizer or snack or as a side dish. If prepared with little gravy then serve along with fried rice, plain rice, or naan
- It can be served with some raw onion rings or lemon wedges on the side.
- You can marinade paneer with spices a day ahead and refrigerate it But prepare the batter only while deep frying to get the best results.
Variations
- Instead of deep-frying, you can also get crispy paneer by just shallow fried or air-fried the cubes but occasionally, I prefer the deep frying process that gives perfect crisp texture.
- You can cut paneer in different shapes as into strips or even small triangles.
- You can use fresh or frozen paneer. I used fresh. If you are using frozen paneer then first soak in hot water for few mins then go further.
- According to your liking preference, you can adjust the ingredients and the level of the spiciness.
So, without further delay, let’s just follow us to nail this delicious paneer dish.
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Paneer 65
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Paneer 65 is one of the most popular starter dishes made with deep-fried paneer cubes and then tossed in an amazing spicy, slightly tangy sauce. It is a spicy and irresistible snack recipe, crispy from the outside and soft and succulent from inside. It can be served as an appetizer or snack, or as a side dish for lunch and dinner with chapati and naans.
Ingredients
- 400 grams Indian cottage cheese (paneer)
- Oil for deep-frying
For the marinade
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (Maida)
- 3 tablespoons corn flour
- 2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- Water as required
- Salt as required
For the sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic finely chopped
- 2 whole dry red chilli
- 2 green chillies
- 1 medium onion cubed
- 1 small capsicum chunks
- Few curry leaves
- ½ cup fresh yogurt
- ½ teaspoon corn flour
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon chilli sauce
- 2 tablespoons spring onions chopped
For garnishing
- Spring onions chopped
Instructions
For the marinade
- To make the marinade, take maida, corn flour, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, black pepper and chopped curry leaves in a bowl and mix well.
- Add water as required to make the thick, smooth lump-free batter not runny.
- Then add salt to taste. Mix all together well.
- Now, add the paneer cubes into the batter and gently mix so that the batter will coat on paneer well.
- In a deep wok or pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot enough, carefully drop the coated Paneer cubes one by one in hot oil. Fry them on medium high flame until they turn golden brown and crispy.
- Then take out the fried cube and transfer to a plate on tissue paper to absorb the excess oil. Set the paneer aside.
For the sauce
- Heat a wok on high flame, add oil. When it is hot, add chopped ginger and garlic. Cook for about a minute on high flame.
- Add dried red chillies, green chillies. Stir continuously.
- Then add onion, capsicum to the wok. Fry for about 2 minutes with constant stirring
- Add few chopped curry leaves and mix them too.
- Mix corn flour, Kashmiri chilli powder to curd.
- Add the curd mixture, chilli sauce to the wok and mix it well. Cook the mixture on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the paneer to the wok. Mix and coat everything well.
- Now mix spring onion greens to the wok and your paneer 65 is ready.
- Garnish with spring onion greens, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- The marinade batter nor be too thick or too thin (runny consistency). Make sure the outer coating of paneer is thick enough to coat the paneer well.
- Adjust the spice level according to your taste. But for me. this recipe tastes best when it is little spicy.
- You can fry the paneer beforehand and prepare the gravy just before serving.
- Make sure the oil is hot while deep frying or the paneer cubes will absorb extra oil and also it won’t be crunchy.
- You can also prepare the famous gobi 65, aloo 65, bread 65 or chicken 65 using the same recipe and just swapping paneer with other veggies.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
- Cuisine: Indian
