Welcome to the Punjabi Tandoori Grill Party with Tandoori Paneer Tikka With Grilled Veggies and a sneak peek into my Rose Lavender Garden !!
Every lavish Indian dinner party is sure to have some Tikkas, vegetarian or Non Vegetarian. Paneer, capsicum and onions marinated in a yogurt based marinade. Skewered and grilled till brown and there we go….Tandoori Paneer Tikka with grilled veggies is ready, my next recipe to the Blog Hop theme “Regional Indian cuisine–Punjabi Cuisine”!!
Check out Tandoori Chicken with Mint Coriander Relish, Masala Chaas or Spiced Buttermilk, Rice Kheer for dessert and my introductory post on Punjabi cuisine and its cultural heritage.
There are so many occasions where meat lovers have happily compromise for a pure vegetarian meal, as long as there was at least one paneer dish on the menu. Though paneer is a common ingredient in various regional cuisines in India, the very mention of paneer reminds the state of Punjab with its fertile fields of wheat and yellow mustard flowers, the sanjha chulahs (communal tandoor ovens) and the roadside dhabas, serving tandoori roti, dal makhani, sarson ka saag, makki di roti, lassi , many more and of course Tandoori Paneer Tikka.
Punjabi cuisine is what has made paneer famous and though paneer has found its way into almost every regional Indian cuisine, my favourite paneer recipes will always remain the Punjabi ones.
Hearty morsels of soft and crumbly Paneer marinated in a delicious mix of Yoghurt and spices, skewered and then grilled till golden brown in a tandoor, thus giving it a wonderful and distinctive smoky flavour. Of course most of us home-cooks have no access to a tandoor, but this dish tastes equally good grilled over charcoal, in an oven or even on a skillet. The recipe is pretty simple and straight forward though you see a long list of ingredients.
One bite of this Tandoori Paneer Tikka with Grilled Veggies will transport you to a roadside dhaba on the highway that specialises in doling out the most flavourful classic curries served with generous dollops of homemade butter and finally washed down with tall….really “TALL”…glasses of cool sweet Lassi or spicy Chaas. Slurpp!!
There are myriad ways you can make the marinade, you don’t have to follow my recipe to the T, as I keep changing ingredients each time I make any recipe!!…And this method of trial and error is your best friend in the journey of cooking to create your own signature recipes!! Go with your instinct by starting with a basic ingredients and one simple recipe. As you move on, make it a fun learning by playing with the ingredients. Trust me, you will succeed in creating your own perfect and signature recipe at the end!! Authenticity of the dish can’t be questioned here as there is no such thing as an authentic Tandoori Paneer Tikka with grilled veggies !
Tandoori Paneer Tikka with grilled veggies is not just paneer on a skewer, shoved in a tandoor and taken out in 10 minutes. There is a lot which goes into making a good paneer tikka. To begin with, there has to be good quality Cottage cheese or paneer, which should be marinated with a great marinade for ½ to 1 hour, prepared with the choicest spices and herbs.
To have the recipe for homemade paneer, click here. The trick is that the flavour of the spices and the herbs must get as deep inside the paneer cubes as possible. Marinating paneer before grilling it becomes very important, especially when the Tandoori paneer tikka is becoming part of a dish like a burger, a pizza, a kathi roll or a biryani. The reason being that the dish is going to derive its flavour from the Tandoori Paneer Tikka with grilled veggies and not the other way round.
The next time when you set up a barbecue, make sure Tandoori Paneer Tikka with grilled veggies is on top of your priority. Enjoy!!
Here is the recipe!!
Step-by-Step process n making Tandoori Paneer Tikka with grilled veggies:
The process is quite simple and straight forward involving the following main steps-
- Cutting paneer and veggies into cubes
- Preparing the marinade
- Marinating paneer and veggies
- Thread them onto skewers
- Grilling
1. Cutting paneer and veggies into cubes:
- Cut paneer into bite sized cubes. You can either use homemade paneer or store bought paneer.
- Cut all the veggies into cubes other than mini radishes or tomatoes.
2. Preparing the marinade:
- In a bowl, add all the ingredients under the list “To marinate” one after the other and mix well.
3. Marinating Paneer and Veggies:
- Add the paneer cubes and toss so that all the pieces are well coated with the yoghurt marinate. Remove them and set aside.
- To the remaining marinade in the bowl, add the cubed veggies and toss so that all the pieces are well coated with the yoghurt marinade.
- Oops!!…I missed out onions, so adding them now!! You can add all the veggies together and mix well.
4. Threading onto the skewers:
- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to marinate. Longer the better.
- Thread the paneer and veggies alternately onto the metal or pre-soaked wooden skewers as shown below.
NOTE: You need to soak wooden skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes to keep them from igniting right there on the grill.
5. Grilling:
- Grill the paneer over a hot grill / coal grill / gas grill or in an oven till the paneer is a bit browned on the outside. This should take approximately 6-8 minutes.
- Today I’m using my Weber gas grill for this.
- Preheat the grill to 200 degree celsius and place the skewers with paneer and veggies over the grill and cook turning sides in between till the paneer is browned on the outside.
NOTE: If using an Oven, preheat oven to 200 degree celsius. Arrange the skewers in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Towards the end slightly increase the temperature for about a minute to get a charred and crisp outer layer.
In case you don’t have any of the above, you can also pan-fry them on a skillet with 1/2 a teaspoon of oil.
Once out of the tandoor the paneer tikka is simply irresistible. The very sight of it being removed from a skewer is mouth watering.
- Serve the Tandoori Paneer Tikka with Grilled Veggies with some sliced tomatoes, raw onions rings and a squeeze of lime.
- You can also sprinkle some chaat masala (optional) and serve with onion rings and lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Tandoori Paneer Tikka With Grilled Veggies
Ingredients
- To Marinate:
- 1 Cup thick Yoghurt or Hung curd
- 1 Tablespoon Red chilli powder or Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger garlic paste
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons Lemon juice
- ½ Tablespoon Tandoori masala available in any Indian store (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Powder
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ Tablespoon Oil Use mustard oil if possible
- Salt as required
- ¼ cup fresh coriander finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves finely chopped
- Veggies Needed:
- For Garnish:
- 1 Onion sliced into thin circular rounds
- 1 Lemon cut into wedges
- Few carrots peeled and thinly sliced or grated
- ¼ teaspoon Chaat masala optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, add all the ingredients under the list “To marinate” one after the other and mix well.
- Add the paneer cubes and toss so that all the pieces are well coated with the yoghurt marinate. Remove them and set aside.
- To the remaining marinade in the bowl, add the cubed veggies and toss so that all the pieces are well coated with the yoghurt marinade.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to marinate. Longer the better.
- Thread the paneer and veggies alternately onto the metal or pre-soaked wooden skewers as shown below.
- Grill the paneer over a hot grill / coal grill / gas grill or in an oven till the paneer is a bit browned on the outside.
- For this, preheat the grill to 200 degree celsius and place the skewers with paneer and veggies over the grill and cook turning sides in between till the paneer is browned on the outside. This should take approximately 6-8 minutes.
- If using an Oven, preheat oven to 200 degree celsius. Arrange the skewers in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Towards the end slightly increase the temperature for about a minute to get a charred and crisp outer layer.
- In case you don’t have any of the above, you can also pan-fry them on a skillet with 1/2 a teaspoon of oil.
- Serve the Tandoori Paneer Tikka with Grilled Veggies with some sliced tomatoes, raw onions rings and a squeeze of lime.
- You can also sprinkle some chaat masala (optional) and serve with onion rings and lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
2. You can skip tandoori masala, in case you do not have. It tastes great even without it.
3. The trick lies in marination so that the flavour of the spices and the herbs must get as deep inside the paneer cubes as possible. So the longer you marinate, the better!!
4. Use good quality paneer.
5. You need to soak wooden skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes to keep them from igniting right there on the grill.
6. Prep time given is for store bought paneer. In case of homemade paneer, add another 2 hours because the paneer hast o set.
7. Preheat the grill before placing the skewers with paneer and veggies.
Try out the Tandoori Platter with Tandoori Paneer Tikka with Grilled Veggies and Tandoori Chicken with Mint Coriander Relish. You can enjoy tandoori platter as it is or you can have with any Indian bread like Roti or Paratha. Finally Masala Chaas or Spiced buttermilk helps to cool you before indulging yourself into the dessert Rice Kheer to complete your Punjabi Tandoori Grill Party with a sneak peek into my Rose Lavender Garden !!
Stay Tuned!!
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma
Thank you for sharing such a great recipe . Am so excited to try this . I have made the marination , the only additional
Thing I added was a little gram flour ( less than a tablespoon ) . Am grilling aswell. My doubt here is how to avoid the paneer getting hard .
Hi….I’m so glad you liked the recipe and giving it a shot 🙂 The yoghurt marination will prevent paneer from getting hard and also make sure to place the skewers on a perfectly hot grill so that you don’t end up grilling too long which actually makes paneer rubbery and hard…Hope this helps!!…Will be happy to hear your feedback 🙂
I had made paneer tikka sometime back ( Didn’t have a grill ), so made it on tava… You are right… experimenting with the marinade is the key. Yours look awesome, and yes, the lavender garden too.
Thank you dear..always appreciate your comments and support:)
Super yummy paneer tikka
Thank you Vani:)
I want to grab few pieces from the plate :) It looks totally yummy!
Thanks a heap dear…Welcome to my space!!
oh my god what a co-incidence! I too posted paneer tikka recipe on my blog today! yours look fantastic Padma!
Oh really!!..Will check out dear..I have observed many a times we do think alike in terms of our recipes:)…Thank you dear:)
You have done it so beautifully dear. Looks delicious !!
Thanks dear:)
Wow colourful and delicious looking tikka, love the combo spices in here Padma…yummm
Thanks a ton Chitra:)
colourful yummy starter
Thanks Amrita:)
Wow!! This is awesome!! Lovely platter!!
Thank you Sundari:)
I like what I see on your plate. The spicy marinade is the hero here! Those lavenders in the background look amazing.
Thank you dear…really very happy to hear from you and means a lot to me:)