Chili Paneer Potstickers

Desi Chinese cuisine, what I grew up calling Indo Chinese food, is a South Asian- Chinese fusion with some origins in Kolkata, India as well as Karachi in Pakistan.

In Kolkata the cuisine evolved from Chinese immigrants who combined Indian seasoning with Hakka style cuisine. This genre of food is now popular throughout South Asia and all over the world. You can read more about one of the popular origin stories here, with Chef Nelson Wang credited with inventing Chicken Manchurian. Luckily because of the large vegetarian population in India, many vegetarian friendly items have become Desi Chinese staples as well.

Chili paneer, usually served in large deep fried deliciously tangy, spicy cubes, is one of my favorite Desi Chinese dishes. That and Gobi Manchurian, also known as deep fried cauliflower goodness. But that is precisely the issue I ran into with testing out Chili Paneer recipes for this blog. I didn’t want to deep fry anything, and I wanted to make a dish that was healthier but still packed in the flavor that makes desi chinese food so amazing.

The first time I learned to make any kind of potsticker was when I took a cooking class in Beijing a few years ago. We learned to make a type of Chinese style dumpling called jiaozi with a pretty similar process to this recipe.

I’ve simplified the recipe by using wonton wrappers instead of making the dough. I highly recommend getting round wonton wrappers from your local Asian grocery store instead of the square Nasoya wrappers you find in most grocery stores. They’re not as pliable and the corners were tough after being cooked. You can find the round ones in the frozen section of most Asian grocery stores. Keep a wet washcloth handy to keep the dumplings covered as you make them so that they don’t dry out.

The best thing about this recipe is that it’s so easy to sit and make a ton while watching Netflix, or while hanging out with family and friends. And they are very easy to freeze! I pull 7 or 8 of these out of the freezer and fry them up for a quick dinner on nights when I don’t have a ton of time. 

Here are some links that go over the pleating and cooking process for this style of dumpling via video. There’s a LOT of ways to pleat and wrap these, and it’s fun to try different styles.