All of us love to party whether it is an office gig or just at home. No party is complete without a great starter. There is no appetizer like chicken and tandoori paneer tikka. The whole Europe is crazy about this recipe. Well you can't blame them for it. After all, India stays with you, even if you left it centuries ago. We can easily make this at home. Grilled paneer skewers just win the world over.
Vegetarians love marinated and grilled veggies. Just as much as the non vegetarians love their meat. This taste of smoky cubes stays with you for long time. Grilling it in a fan forced oven at home, gives the dish a great finish. It is an easy to cook starter. You can pair it with mint chutney or tomato sauce. Serve it hot. It is kid friendly and gluten-free. You can alter the heat using the chilly in it. You can have it as a starter or as a main course dish Panir tikka masala. Just add gravy to the starter and have it with some tandoori roti. Garlic naan and rumali roti also tastes great with the curry.
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Benefits
- Rich source of protein
- Builds better bones and teeth
- Good source of vitamin B12,selenium,magnesium
- Maintains blood sugar levels
- Good for heart and immune system
- Aids digestion
What is the different between paneer tikka and paneer tikka masala ?
Former is the dry starter like the current recipe you are reading, however latter is the curry version. You can just transfer the cooked cottage cheese starter to the tomato & onion curry , and you get the curry. You may refer to the recipe here.
Ingredients
- Cottage cheese cubed
- Capsicums/ bell peppers 1 red and 1 green diced
- Onion diced/few baby onions
For Marination: - Hung curd/ Greek yogurt
- Ginger-garlic paste
- Turmeric
- Red chilli powder
- Cumin powder
- Lemon juice
- Chickpea flour/besan
- Salt as per taste
- Mustard oil + extra oil for brushing
- Wooden skewers soaked in water
Equipment
- Fan forced oven
- Skewers
- Whisk
Instructions
- Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl.
- Whisk to a smooth mixture.
3. Cut the veggies and add some marinade to the bowl.
4. Marinate the cottage cheese pieces in the marinate mix for 4 hours or more.
5. Line up the cottage cheese and veggies in wooden skewers. Grill them in oven.
Serve it hot with mint chutney.
Get the recipe here
Paneer Tikka recipe
Equipment
- fan-forced oven
- skewers
- whisk
Ingredients
- 400 grams cottage cheese/paneer cubed
- 2 capsicums/peppers 1 red and 1 green diced
- 1 onion diced/few baby onions
For Marination:
- ½ cup hung yogurt/greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder/jeera
- Lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon chickpea flour/besan
- Salt as per taste
- 2 tablespoon mustard oil + extra oil for brushing
- Wooden skewers soaked in water
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients for marination and make a paste.
- Dip cottage cheese pieces in the marination paste and refrigerate overnight(min. 4 hrs)
- Arrange cottage cheese on skewer.
- Dip the onions and capsicums in the remaining paste of cottage cheese and arrange on skewer alternatively to cottage cheese pieces.
- Preheat the oven at 200 degree Celsius(Fan forced).
- Grill them for 8 minutes first and 3-4 minutes using the top grill option.(Oven broiler option)
- Serve hot with mint chutney
Notes
You can make the paneer at home using the recipe given in a link or you can just buy it fresh from dairy or supermarket.
You may use other veggies like broccoli,baby corns etc and add a teaspoon garam masala or teaspoon chaat masala as per your taste. You may replace mustard oil with any other vegetable oil.
Nutrition
Equipment
You can bake the tikka in a fan-forced oven or an air fryer. You can re-heat the tikka on a tawa if eating left overs.
Substitutions
For a vegan tikka, use firm tofu instead of paneer. If cottage cheese is not available you can make a halloumi version for vegetarians. You will get similar results. For non vegetarian option, you can make chicken tikka. However, the timing of the cook will differ according to the ingredient used.
Variations
You can make a gluten-free vrat paneer tikka or falhari tikka during Hindu fasting period for a one time meal during fasting. This recipe follows all the dietary guidelines one follows during fasting.
If you like mild spices, use the Kashmiri red chili powder while making marinade. This chili is pretty mild like paprika and also gives it a great color. Use a hotter variety if you like spicy. You can also put some black pepper if you like.
Try more Indian cottage cheese recipes?
What are some finger licking curry recipes?
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Priya Kulkarni says
Recipe was nice and yummy
bhavana bhatia says
Thank you so much!
DrHoover says
Bhavana bhatia, thanks so much for the post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
bhavana bhatia says
Thank you 🙂