paneer tikka
paneer tikka is spiced marinated cottage cheese cubes that are pan-fried on a tawa or griddle.
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time1 hr 20 mins
Servings: 3 to 4
Ingredients
main ingredients
- 250 to 300 grams paneer (cottage cheese)
- 1 medium to large bell pepper (shimla mirch or capsicum - green or yellow or red)
- 1 medium to large tomato
- 1 medium to large onion
for paneer tikka marination
- 250 grams thick or hung curd (hung yogurt or hung dahi) - about 2.25 cups of thick yogurt
- 4 tablespoon besan (gram flour)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder (kali mirch powder) or white pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahjeera)
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi - crushed (dry fenugreek leaves)
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania powder)
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder)
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder or tandoori masala powder
- 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder)
- 2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder - if using a hotter variety of red chili powder, then reduce to 1 teaspoon
- ¾ tablespoon ginger garlic paste (adrak lahsun ka paste) - about 5 to 6 medium to large garlic cloves and ¾ inch ginger crushed in a mortar-pestle
- ¾ teaspoon lime juice
- 2 to 3 tablespoon oil or as required
- ¾ teaspoon regular salt or rock salt or add as required
Instructions
preparation for paneer tikka
- slice the paneer into 1/4 inch squares or cubes or rectangles.
- rinse the veggies. halve the onion and remove each layer one by one.
- dice the capsicum/bell pepper into square shaped slices.
- dice the tomatoes too the same way. remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
- keep the veggies and paneer aside.
making paneer tikka marination
- first whisk the thick yogurt (curd) till smooth in a bowl or pan.
- add all the spices and herbs, besan/gram flour and salt, except oil. stir and mix well. taste the marinade and add salt it required
- add the diced vegetables (onion, tomato and capsicum) along with paneer slices.
- with your hands mix very well. so that the marinade coats the paneer and veggies evenly.
- cover the bowl & keep the marinade in the fridge for 45 minutes to 3 hours. you can also keep overnight.
making paneer tikka on tawa
- heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan/tawa or a well seasoned griddle. coat the paneer and veggies with the marinade and place them on the tawa. you can fry them at a low flame or medium flame.
- in all i fried in 3 batches and overall used about 3 tbsp oil. another way is to skewer the paneer, veggies and then fry them. i chose to fry them directly as they get fried evenly and the texture is better.
- when one side gets browned, gently lift and turn over. the paneer cubes will get cooked faster than the veggies.
- you can can char or brown the veggies more. but remember to remove the paneer cubes as soon as they are golden. if you want you can fry the paneer cubes first and then the vegetables. remove them on a plate.
- while still hot, then skewer the fried paneer cubes and veggies on to a wooden skewer or toothpick.
- you can also have paneer tikka straight away without skewering. sprinkle some chaat masala & lemon juice on the paneer tikka.
- arrange them in a serving plate and serve the paneer tikka hot or warm with pickled vinegar onions (sirke wale pyaaz), or pyaaz lachcha (onion lemon salad) or mint yogurt chutney.