Paneer Tikka

Paneer tikka step-by-step recipe with photos.

Paneer tikka is without a doubt the most popular vegetarian tandoori dish. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. Traditionally, this dish was made in a tandoor or clay oven but you can also make this in a regular oven.

To make the marinade for the paneer tikka, I start with sautéing onion, ginger, garlic in some oil. I then mix together roasted gram flour. Once the mixture cools down, I mix in hung yogurt and spices. 

This marinade is a bit different than the usual marinade for tikka which is prepared using raw onion, ginger, and garlic paste. This leaves a strong taste of onion and garlic in the paneer tikka – especially because paneer cooks so fast, the marinade doesn’t get time to cook. This doesn’t go well with the mild flavours of paneer and bell pepper. So, in my version, I cook the onion, ginger, and garlic before adding to the marinade –  with a little extra effort the taste of the dish increases manyfold! However, you can stick to the raw onion, ginger, garlic paste in marinades for meat – as meat takes longer to cook, the marinade will be cooked along with the meat.  

If you don’t have access to an oven, you can prepare the paneer tikka in a skillet or tawa also – though the result won’t be as good. To make them on a skillet, lightly brush all sides of the skewered paneer and vegetables with some oil. Heat the skillet on medium heat and place the skewers on the skillet. Cover and cook for a minute. Turn the skewer and cook on each side until they are lightly charred. 

The paneer tikkas are perfect for summer barbeques and a great alternative to meat kebabs! Cubes of paneer and vegetables, crunchy & crumbly on the outside, soft & juicy inside.

For a vegan option, you may replace the paneer with tofu.

For a surprising twist, try using halloumi instead of paneer 🙂

For more paneer recipes, click here.

Paneer tikka

Shilpa

Paneer tikka is without a doubt the most popular vegetarian tandoori dish. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese.  Traditionally this dish was made in a tandoor or clay oven but you can also make this in a regular oven.

5 from 1 vote

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Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Indian, Punjabi

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 250 grams paneer cut into cubes
• ¼ cup yogurt
• 1 cup capsicum cut into cubes (I used red, yellow and green)
• 1 medium red onion cut into cubes

For the marinade:

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• ½ inch ginger grated or ½ tsp ginger paste
• 1-2 cloves garlic grated or ½ tsp garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp besan
• A handful coriander leaves finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)

Instructions

 

To make the marinade:

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan or kadhai and add cumin seeds. Once it splutters, add the chopped onions and sauté till light brown colour
• Add ginger, garlic, red chilli powder and sauté for a minute or two. Add besan and mix well. Cool completely
• Once the onion is cooled, mix together the rest of the ingredients for the marinade

To make the tikka:

• Add the paneer cubes to the marinade. Then add the cubes of onion, capsicum and mix well.
• Skewer the paneer and the assorted cubed vegetables
• Preheat oven at 200℃
• Place the skewers on a wire rack – for best results suspend them on a skewer rack. (Suspending the skewer is important as it ensures the tikkas are uniformly cooked on all sides, and the dripping juices do not touch the base of the tikkas. Also, it keeps the paneer from touching hot surfaces, which it tends to stick to.)
• Cook for 15-20 minutes till lightly charred
• Serve hot with mint chutney

Notes

• For a vegan option, you may replace the paneer with tofu
• For a surprising twist, try using halloumi instead of paneer 🙂

Nutrition Facts

Paneer tikka

Amount Per Serving

Calories 118 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Fat 9g14%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 17mg6%

Sodium 11mg0%

Potassium 77mg2%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 473IU9%

Vitamin C 21mg25%

Calcium 134mg13%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Paneer tikka step-by-step recipe with photos

1. Saute onion, ginger, garlic and mix besan

2. Cool the masala and mix rest of marinade ingredients

3. Marinate paneer & vegetables and skewer them