Main dish

Patak's Sweet and Sour Madras Paneer Curry recipe

Name: Patak's Sweet and Sour Madras Paneer Curry
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: vegetable oil (for roasting); ½ Patak's Madras paste pot; 1½ tbsp cornflour; 1 tbsp dark soy sauce; 1 tsp water; around 500g paneer, cubed (I use 2 x 226g packs); 3 bell peppers (different colours if possible, sliced into 3cm squares); handful of cashew nuts; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 large red onion, sliced; 1 tbsp fresh root ginger, chopped; 2 cloves of garlic, chopped; 200g button mushrooms; ½ Patak's Madras paste pot; 100ml water; 50g ketchup; 1½ tbsp dark soy sauce; 100g pineapple (cut into small chunks); 1 spring onion, sliced (to finish)

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A vegetarian version of Patak's wonderful Indo-Chinese Chilli Chicken and a fail-safe recipe I turn to when cooking for friends, veggie or otherwise.

Prep30m
Cook25m
Total55m

cheese indian vegan-adaptable vegetarian

Patak's Sweet and Sour Madras Paneer Curry

Update

I recently made a vegan version of this dish using Tofoo, which is a great substitute for paneer.

The Sweet and Sour Madras Chicken Curry recipe that I discovered on the Patak’s website is one of my favourite dishes so I’ve made a vegetarian version using paneer because I don’t want my veggie friends to miss out. I think the sweet and sour curry sauce works just as well with chicken or paneer and I’m sure tofu would stand in nicely if you wanted to make this dish vegan (update: it does).

I've replaced the chicken thighs with 2 x 226g packs of paneer, added some button mushrooms and reduced the cornflour but otherwise the recipe is exactly the same (as my version, not Patak’s - I changed their recipe as I felt it was crying out for pineapple).

Recipe credit

The Patak's website

Recipe

Patak's Sweet and Sour Madras Paneer Curry

Prep30m
Cook25m
Total55m

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Marinade for paneer

vegetable oil (for roasting)
½ Patak's Madras paste pot
1½ tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp water
around 500g paneer, cubed (I use 2 x 226g packs)

Curry

3 bell peppers (different colours if possible, sliced into 3cm squares)
handful of cashew nuts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large red onion, sliced
1 tbsp fresh root ginger, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
200g button mushrooms
½ Patak's Madras paste pot
100ml water
50g ketchup
1½ tbsp dark soy sauce
100g pineapple (cut into small chunks)
1 spring onion, sliced (to finish)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan) and line a baking tray with foil. Drizzle over a little vegetable oil.
Add ½ a Patak’s Madras paste pot, 1½ tablespoons of corn flour, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of water into a medium sized bowl and stir until the corn flour dissolves. Add around 500g of cubed paneer and mix until well coated.
Tip the paneer cubes onto the baking tray and roast for 15 minutes turning the tray around halfway through so that the paneer cooks evenly.
Optionally griddle 3 sliced bell peppers until nicely charred.
Heat a wok or large frying pan over a medium heat and dry fry a handful of cashews for a few minutes until they colour. Remove the cashews and set to one side. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok.
Add 1 sliced red onion and fry for a few minutes then add 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger and 2 chopped garlic cloves to the wok and fry for another minute.
Add 200g of button mushrooms, ½ a Madras paste pot and 50ml water to the wok and fry for 2 minutes.
Add 50g of ketchup and 1½ tablespoons of dark soy sauce to the wok along with the roasted paneer. Use a spatula to scrape all of the excess marinade into the wok.
Add 3 sliced bell peppers (from step 4) and 100g of pineapple chunks to the wok and once the sauce starts to bubble, simmer for 5 minutes. If you didn’t griddle the peppers earlier, simmer until the peppers soften. If the sauce looks dry add a little more water (I use around 100ml in total).
Transfer the curry to a dish and top with 1 sliced spring onion and toasted cashews. Serve with rice.