This also goes beautifully well as a party appetizer.

About Paneer 65

Paneer 65 is a vegetarian variation of the popular South Indian Chicken 65.  Similar to the original version, paneer 65 is made by deep frying marinated and batter coated paneer until crisp. It is later tossed in a spicy tempering made with spices, garlic, curry leaves and sometimes yogurt or lemon juice. Now if you are wondering why is this fried paneer tagged as 65? Here goes the story. It is believed that chicken 65 originated in the year 1965 at Buhari Hotel, Chennai. To distinguish the dish from many other similar inventions it was named after the year. A larger population of India eat vegetarian. So a lot of vegetarian versions have further been invented in the Indian restaurants. Since paneer is an alternate vegetarian protein for a lot of Indians, paneer 65 is somewhat well known in the South Indian restaurants. Again as you go across South India, you are likely to find numerous versions and will agree with me that no 2 restaurants serve the same tasting 65 dishes. Each and every region has a different version and is mentioned uniquely as – Hyderabadi, Andhra style, Special 65, Madurai style, Chennai style and Tamil Nadu style. At last you will also find an Indo-Chinese version of the 65 dishes made with soya sauce, tomato ketchup etc. In my experience there are so many variations that actually taste better than the original Buhari version. This paneer 65 is an example of that.

My Recipe

My recipe will give you super delicious paneer 65 that is soft inside and crisp outside with a punch of flavors. Though I have deep fried the paneer for the light and airy texture, you may shallow fry, bake or even air fry for healthier option. But remember that if you are making a large batch, deep frying is much easier as the paneer cooks down to crisp texture faster. Use this recipe as the base and make variations using parboiled potatoes, Button Mushrooms, Cauliflower, broccoli or even bread. I also have a Cauliflower 65 and Chicken 65 recipes on the blog. This recipe is roughly adapted from my chicken 65. More Paneer recipesChilli paneerGarlic paneerMatar paneerPaneer bhurjiMethi paneer

How to Make Paneer 65 (Stepwise Photos)

I made 2x recipe so you will find double the ingredients in the pictures below. Please ignore the quantities seen.

Preparation

  1. Rinse 4 sprigs of curry leaves. Pat dry 2 sprigs and keep them aside for frying and tempering. Fine chop the other 2 sprigs for the marinade and set aside. Also chop 1 teaspoon garlic and keep aside. Rinse 6 to 7 green chilies, slit, deseed and pat dry. Crush half teaspoon black pepper and set aside.
  2. For the marinade you will need

1 ½ teaspoons ginger garlic paste½ teaspoon cumin powder¾ teaspoon garam masala¾ teaspoon coriander powder½ to ¾ teaspoon red chilli powder (like Kashmiri or byadgi)⅛ teaspoon turmeric¼ teaspoon salt1½ teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar

For the batter you will need ¼ teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons cornstarch or all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons rice flour.

Marinate Paneer

  1. Dice the paneer to ¾ inch pieces and add to a mixing bowl. Try to keep the pieces of the same size so they take the same time to fry.
  2. Mix up all of the ground spices and salt in the plate and sprinkle all over the paneer. Also add the ginger garlic and vinegar. Toss the paneer well to coat them with the spices.
  3. They will be dry and won’t coat well. So you will sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and mix well. Cover and rest for however long you want, up to 48 hours. If you want to keep for longer than 30 mins, refrigerate.

Make Spicy Tempering

You may skip this tempering part if you don’t want Paneer 65 to be spicy and garlicky. But this is what makes this recipe simply superb. If you still don’t want to try this, you may skip to – “How to fry paneer 65” section directly below. 6. When you are ready to make the paneer 65, to a bowl add 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ tablespoon garlic paste or grated, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon sugar. Adding garlic paste at this stage gives you a strong garlicky flavor. If you don’t like that you may skip adding it or reduce the quantity but that’s how we like it at home. 7. Pour 1 to 2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice or 3 tablespoons of thick yogurt. Pour 3 tablespoons of water (skip if using yogurt). Mix to a smooth paste and keep aside. 8. Pour 1½ tablespoon oil to a wok and heat it. As soon as the oil turns hot, add 1 teaspoon chopped garlic, 2 to 3 slit green chilies and a sprig of curry leaves. Fry on a medium heat until the garlic is slightly fragrant. 9. Immediately stir the red chilli paste we made earlier to the pan. 10. Mix well and cook on a low heat until the spicy tempering becomes thick and begins to separate oil, meaning there is no excess moisture in it. It is very much important to cook down the spices to a thick consistency here else your paneer 65 will turn soggy or soft. Taste test and adjust salt as required. Keep this aside.

How to Fry Paneer 65

You may skip the next 3 steps and add the flour and salt directly over the paneer. Sprinkle water and coat the paneer. But to make a larger batch these steps work well. Also sometimes too much mixing is going to crumble the paneer so these steps make sense to me. 11. To fry paneer, to a small bowl add the cornstarch, salt and rice flour. If you do not have cornstarch you may use all purpose flour. Pour ¼ cup water. 12. Mix together to make a thick batter, adding more water if required. The Consistency should be neither too thick nor too runny. Dip a spoon and check, it should coat the back of the spoon. If you want to air fry or bake these, keep the batter a bit on the thicker side. 13. Pour this over the marinated paneer. 14. Coat the paneer with the batter. If required, you may splash some water to help spread the batter well. I did splash a bit. 15. Pour oil in a deep pan or pot and begin to heat it on a medium flame. Try using a smaller pot so you won’t need a lot of oil. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a small portion of the batter to the oil. It should sizzle and rise to the surface without browning. Gently drop paneer pieces one by one, making sure each piece is coated well with the batter. Also space them apart while adding to the hot oil to prevent them from clumping up. After adding to the oil, do not disturb (do not stir) for 3 mins. Later turn them to the other side and fry. 16. Remove to a wired rack or steel colander, when they turn crisp and golden. Fry all of the paneer in batches. 17. Turn off the heat. Place the curry leaves in the frying skimmer and gently lower to the oil. Make sure you pat dry the leaves before frying, else they will splash hot oil. 18. Once crisp remove to a serving plate. 19. Now place the deseeded, slit green chilies (pat dry first) in the hot oil and fry until blistered. Remove to a plate. If you want you can also fry the garlic the same way (if you skip the tempering) If you have not made the tempering, serve paneer 65 straight away with a garnish of fried curry leaves and green chilies. Sprinkle some lemon juice and enjoy with fresh cut onions. 20. Add the fried paneer to the tempering and toss well to coat all of the paneer. Taste test and add the crushed pepper & salt if required. These remain crisp for about 20 to 30 mins in warmer temperatures. Add the fried paneer to the tempering only when you are ready to serve. You can keep the fried paneer in the warm oven and later toss with the masala. Serve immediately as paneer 65 will begin to soften upon cooling. Related Recipes

Recipe Card

Paneer 65 Recipe first published in August 2012. Updated and Republished in June 2022.