Chili Paneer – Keto Friendly

As most of you know, I am following a Keto diet for health reasons.

What is Keto Diet and why follow it?

The main aim of the keto diet is to lower the amount of carbs you intake but increase the amount of fats. This is often referred to as the Low Carbs diet. When you don’t take any carbs, your body enters into a phase called ketosis. When this happens, a number of good ketones are released which will encourage your body to use your body fat to convert it into energy. The internet has lots of information about this diet and I am still getting used to changing my lifestyle and over the coming weeks, I will share more information and more recipes.

Since joining the Keto diet, I have been looking for ideas to make some interesting and easy Keto dishes.

What is Paneer?

Paneer is an Indian Cheese made by curdling milk with something acidic like lemon juice or yogurt to hot milk. The curds and whey are then separated by tying the mixture in a muslin cloth. The soft cheese is then pressed, in the cloth, between two weights  for a couple of hours and then cut into cubes.  My recipe for making paneer is here.  Paneer is available in most Supermarkets in the cheese isle.   Paneer is allowed in the Keto diet so occasionally I have been having either chill paneer or saag paneer for my dinner.

Chili paneer is a popular snack/starter with most of my family. It’s basically a stir fry using paneer, peppers and onions with various sauces and spices.  Some recipes do use a slurry of corn flour to coat the paneer but I have not used it as corn flour is not allowed in the keto diet – plus we never use it in our recipe for chili paneer.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of diced paneer (home made or store bought)
• ½ Red pepper
• 1 Onion
• 2-3 hot green chillies
• 1 inch of fresh ginger
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• salt and pepper to taste
• chili flakes to taste
• 2 tbls soy sauce
• 4 tbls oil
• 5-6 fresh curry leaves
• handful of fresh coriander
• 1 tbls fresh lemon juice

Method:

1. Slice the peppers, chilies and ginger and dice the paneer.

2. Heat 2 tbls of oil and add some cumin seeds and once tey brown add the paneer and stir fry until it browns lightly.

3. Once browned, remove and set aside.

4. Add the rest of the oil and stir fry the onions, , chilies and ginger. Add the salt, chili flakes and curry leaves.  Add the peppers and cook these for 3-4 minutes.

5.  Add the soy sauce, half the coriander and lemon juice.  Stir fry some more for about 3-4 minutes.

6. Garnish it with coriander and serve it hot as a snack or starter.

Who doesn’t love chili paneer?

Some more keto  recipes:

1. 1. Aubergine layer bake
   2. Coconut and almond flour steamed dumplings
   3. Stuffed pepper  (Keto friendly)
   4. Stuffed karela (keto friendly)
   5. Aubergine slices topped with Pizza type fillings Keto friendly

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