Paneer Tikka

Paneer Tikka 

the paneer tikka is served with mint chutney. it is the same chutney that is served with all tandoori items. i made the mint chutney late in the evening… will post the recipe soon.

lets begin step by step recipe of making paneer tikka in the oven.

1. take thick curd/yogurt or hung curd in a bowl and smoothen the curd.

2. add ginger garlic paste or crushed ginger garlic to the curd.

3. add all the dry spice powders and black salt to the curd. below you see the following indian spice powders in clock wise order: kashmiri red chili powder, coriander-cumin powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder and ajwain/carom seeds. in the center is black salt.

4. hmmm. i have not used any red color in the recipe and i feel that the redness is less in the marinade… hence i added some more kashmiri red chili powder to the marinade. kashmiri red chili powder gives a nice red color to the food and its not hot.

5. mix well. can you see some little more redness in the marinade?

6. add lemon juice, mix and keep the marinade aside.

7. dice the veggies.

8. chop the paneer and cube them. best to use homemade paneer.

9. add the veggies and paneer to the marinade.

10. and slowly and gently mix them with the marinade. i tasted the marinade with my sis and both of us felt that some thing is missing in the marinade… it was close but not very close… what is it???….  and lo…  i realized that i had forgotten to add chaat masala… so obviously the next step is adding the chaat masala…. no prizes for guessing this step 

11. ok… everything is marinated well. cover and keep the marinated paneer and veggies in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more.

12. this is how they look after 2 hours.

13. skewer the veggies and paneer in a skewer or tooth pick.

14. arrange them on a plate or a rack. brush with some oil and keep in the oven. after 10 minutes remove from the oven, turn the skewers, brush some oil and again keep in the oven.

15. remove after 10 or 15 minutes. serve the paneer tikka sprinkled with chaat masala along with mint chutney, onion slices and lemon wedges.