The delicate paneer tikkas in the rich Indian curry sauce is a pure indulgence and a celebration of taste and flavor!
This paneer tikka masala is absolutely awesome! I have no other words to describe them correctly!
I have made a lot of paneer recipes but this one is the best of the lot! At least for me!
When I was making this, I had no idea how good or bad it would turn out. I was merely thinking it as another paneer curry but thankfully it proved me wrong! And how!
This simple masala which coats the delicately grilled paneer cubes and veggies burst into flavors as soon as you take your first spoon. And then it’s a wonderfully endless journey! You think I am exaggerating? Try it and thank me later!
As we are growing with our blog, we are getting familiar to the world cuisine more and more. What’s exciting is that we are loving every part of it.
We are being introduced to new flavors with each new recipe I am trying. Surprisingly we like all of them! Even if they are different from what we are used to, we just adore them all!
And then this one is one recipe from our roots; from the wonderful cuisine we are brought up in.
I love the fact that in this universe of food bloggers, we are integrated with one basic necessity of human lives – food! That’s and intriguing thing and it keeps me moving!
This recipe may seem too long to you. But it is quite flexible. I will show you how.
This recipe has two basic portions: one for the tikkas and one for the curry sauce.
If you only want some grilled paneer tikkas as a starter, you can skip the sauce. Make the tikkas (paneer and all veggies) as instructed and serve them skewered on bamboo sticks for that pro-look!
If you are making paneer tikka masala as I have done, you can prepare the tikkas a day ahead. Make the sauce before serving and toss the tikkas into it. Notice that the sauce doesn’t involve too much pre-preparation.
This sauce is very versatile too. You can use it for making chicken tikka masala as well. Check out my chicken tikka recipe for making the most succulent chicken tikkas.
Once you make this, you will simply fall in love with it. So get going!
- Paneer/cottage cheese – 200 gms
- Olive/vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
- Lemon – 1
- Ginger paste – 2 tsp
- Garlic paste – 1 tsp
- Garam masala – 1 tbsp
- Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1 tsp
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Tomato – 1
- Green bell pepper – 1, small (use half if it’s too big)
- Red bell pepper – 1, small (use half if it’s too big)
- Yellow bell pepper – 1, small (use half if it’s too big)
- Onion -1, large
- Thick yogurt – ½ cup (Use hung curd if possible)
- Tomato puree – ½ cup (Make it at home!)
- Fresh cream -1/2 cup (You can use either of single or double cream)
- Green chilli – 2, chopped
- Fresh coriander leaves – ½ cup, chopped
- Vegetable oil – 2 tsbp
- Cinnamon stick – 2 inch
- Black cardamom – 2
- Cloves – 5 to 6
- Kasoori methi (Dried Fenugreek leaves) – 2 tbsp
- Tomato ketchup – 1 tsp
- Roasted cumin seed powder – ½ tsp
- Dry ginger powder – ½ tsp
- Cornflour – 1 tsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Cut the paneer and all the vegetables – bell peppers, onions and tomatoes into square chunks. Try to keep everything of same size for a uniform presentation.
- Take Paneer, bell peppers, tomato and onion in a large bowl. Now add ginger and garlic paste and all spices listed under marination.
- Add juice of the one lemon, 2 tsp Oil and yogurt. Give them a good mix with your hand so that all veggies and the paneer cubes are well coated with yogurt and spices. Set aside for half an hour.
- For making the paneer tikkas, you can grill them in a preheated oven or use a grill pan to grill them on stove. I used the stove-top method.
- Grease the grill pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and bring it to smoking hot. Then turn the flame to medium and add the marinated paneer and vegetables to the pan. Make sure to lay the paneer and veggies in a single layer and don’t overcrowd the pan. Do it in batches if needed.
- Roast them on medium flame for 2 minutes on each side until they are lightly charred and golden brown in color.
- Take them out and set aside till you prepare the sauce.
- Take a large pot and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Heat it on high flame and once heated, add cinnamon, black cardamom and cloves. Saute them for a minute on medium flame.
- Next add the tomato puree and green chilli. Stir to mix well for another minute.
- While the tomato puree is cooking, make a slurry of cornflour with 1 tablespoon of water and set aside.
- Next add the roasted cumin powder, dry ginger powder, sugar and salt to taste to the pan. Cook the spices well and then add tomato ketchup, kasroori methi and the prepared cornflour slurry. Mix everything well.
- After a minute, add the cream and the prepared paneer tikkas along with the grilled veggies. Mix everything with a very light hand to avoid breaking the soft paneer cubes.
- Sprinkle chopped fresh coriander leaves and remove from heat.
- Serve hot with butter naan or chapatis.
Very delicious recipe. Actually I tried it at my home and it is really lip-smacking.
Thanks Nutan! That’s very inspiring! Keep visiting for more such lip-smacking recipes! 🙂