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 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
Paneer tikka
Ingredients
For the marinade:
Instructions
To make the marinade:
To make the tikka:
Notes
How to make panner
Hi there,
Hope you liked my post on paneer tikka.
Please see instructions on making paneer below. I will post a step by step method soon.
Boil 1 liter milk on high heat and add juice of half lemon. Turn off heat as soon as milk curdles and the whey separates from it. Drain using a muslin cloth/cheese cloth and squeeze out the excess liquid. Place the muslin with the paneer under a heavy weight for a about 15 minutes. This will flatten the paneer and remove the remaining liquid. Cut the paneer into cubes.
- Shilpa