Paneer tikka is one of the most favourite and popular vegetarian starters. This delicious tikka is made of paneer (cottage cheese) marinated in yoghurt base spicy marinate. It is arranged on skewers and cooked in an oven or pan. In the Indian Subcontinent, a party without a tandoori starter is incomplete. Tandoori Starter is a must-have for every party, Be it a wedding, get-together, barbeque or dinner party. People love to eat tandoori starters, especially tikkas. Tikkas come in significant variations: Achari Paneer Tikka, Malai Paneer Tikka, Mushroom Paneer Tikka, etc.
Table of contents
1. About the recipe
2. Ingredients
3. Step-by-step method
4. Tips
1. About the recipe
Tikka is basically bite-size pieces marinated and cooked in tandoor. Different spice powders mixed with the yoghurt make a flavorful marinade that is soaked up by the paneer cubes. Grilling the skewers then produces nice slight flavours on the paneer. This paneer tikka is healthy, nutritious, full of protein, filling and comes together in 30 minutes. You can use these tikkas for paneer rolls or in sandwiches, and it is pretty filling. Paneer tikka is a dry dish with lots of flavours where paneer is soft, juicy and succulent, marinated with simple basic spices. It is accompanied by green chutney. For this recipe, the freshness of paneer is essential; you can use homemade paneer, or any of your favourite brands of paneer will work. If the paneer is a little stiff, soak it for a few minutes in warm water, it will turn soft. Here, I am sharing my version of paneer tikka, made on a pan with readily available ingredients and less time to cook.
Let’s start cooking!
Serving Suggestion: 2
Marination Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
2. Ingredients
- 200 gm fresh Paneer (cottage cheese)
- ½ cup diced onion
- ½ cup diced capsicum (red, yellow or green)
For Marination
- 100gm plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon of red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon of garam masala powder
- ½ teaspoon of black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon of chaat masala
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of Mustard oil
For Grilling
- Butter or Ghee
3. Step by Step method
- Cut Paneer into small cubes.
- Dice onion capsicum in square pieces. I have green and red capsicum today for this recipe.
Preparing Marination
- In a mixing bowl, take the yoghurt and whisk it lightly till it becomes smooth.
- Add ginger, garlic paste, spices, lemon juice, mustard oil, and salt. Mustard oil will give tikka very different flavours, but you can use any vegetable or olive oil if you don’t have mustard oil.
- Mix well. Taste the marination, and add salt or other spices according to your taste.
- Add the vegetables and paneer to the yoghurt mixture. Mix very well and leave for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- After 1 hour, thread the vegetables and paneer alternatively on wooden skewers.
- Put a little butter or ghee on a hot grill or regular nonstick pan and place the skewers on it. Baste with ghee or butter at regular intervals. Turn over and repeat. The tikkas should be cooked through and slightly charred on the surface.
- You can fry them on low to medium flame.
- When one side gets browned, gently lift the skewers and turn over. The paneer cubes will get cooked faster than the veggies.
- Arrange the paneer tikka on a plate with green chutney. Serve it hot or warm. Sprinkle some chaat masala and lemon juice.
4. Tips
- Soaked wooden skewers in normal water for 1 hour before using.
- If your paneer is hard, soak it in warm water for 15 minutes; it will become soft and moist.
- Use a well-seasoned tawa so that tikka pieces do not stick on it.
- You can add or remove spices and vegetables according to your preference.
- Paneer Tikka is a perfect filling for paneer rolls, burgers or sandwiches.
