Paneer Tikka
Paneer in a thick hung-curd marinade, cooked fast and close to the heat so the outside blackens before the inside turns rubbery.
- Prep
- 25m
- Cook
- 15m
- Waiting
- 2h
- Total
- 2h 40m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
A jar of tandoori paste loosened with yoghurt, twenty minutes of marinating and the oven grill. Less depth, no charcoal note, on the table in half an hour.
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3/4 cup | Whisk the marinade until it is thick enough to hold a ridge 6m If it runs off the paneer it will drip into the fire and burn rather than coat. | Coat the paneer and marinate 2 hours in the fridge 2h Two hours is enough. Yoghurt is mildly acidic and long marination makes paneer chalky. | Thread onto skewers, alternating paneer, onion and pepper 8m Leave a gap between pieces. Touching pieces steam each other instead of charring. | Grill close to the element until the edges char, turning once and basting with butter 12m 10 to 12 minutes total. Paneer that stays on longer squeaks and weeps. | |
| 2 tbsp | |||||
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| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 400 g | |||||
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| 2 tbsp | |||||
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Whisk the marinade until it is thick enough to hold a ridge
6m- hung yoghurt 3/4 cup
- gram flour 2 tbsp
- ginger and garlic paste 1 tbsp
- Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tsp
- garam masala 1 tsp
- dried fenugreek leaves 1 tbsp
- carom seeds 1/2 tsp
- mustard oil 2 tbsp
- lemon juice 1 tbsp
- salt 1 tsp
If it runs off the paneer it will drip into the fire and burn rather than coat.
-
Coat the paneer and marinate 2 hours in the fridge
2h- from 1 Whisk the marinade until it is thick enough to hold a ridge
- paneer 400 g
Two hours is enough. Yoghurt is mildly acidic and long marination makes paneer chalky.
-
Thread onto skewers, alternating paneer, onion and pepper
8m- from 2 Coat the paneer and marinate 2 hours in the fridge
- red onion 1
- green pepper 1
Leave a gap between pieces. Touching pieces steam each other instead of charring.
-
Grill close to the element until the edges char, turning once and basting with butter
12m- from 3 Thread onto skewers, alternating paneer, onion and pepper
- butter 2 tbsp
- chaat masala 1 tsp
- lime 1
10 to 12 minutes total. Paneer that stays on longer squeaks and weeps.
| 400 g | Toss everything together and leave 20 minutes 20m | Grill on the top shelf at maximum, turning once, until blistered 15m Line the tray with foil. The marinade welds itself to bare metal. | |
| 3 tbsp | |||
| 1/3 cup | |||
| 1 tbsp | |||
| 1 tbsp | |||
| 1 | |||
| 1 | |||
| 1/2 tsp | |||
| 1 tsp | |||
| 1 |
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Toss everything together and leave 20 minutes
20m- paneer 400 g
- tandoori paste 3 tbsp
- thick yoghurt 1/3 cup
- dried fenugreek leaves 1 tbsp
- neutral oil 1 tbsp
- red onion 1
- pepper 1
- salt 1/2 tsp
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Grill on the top shelf at maximum, turning once, until blistered
15m- from 1 Toss everything together and leave 20 minutes
- chaat masala 1 tsp
- lime 1
Line the tray with foil. The marinade welds itself to bare metal.
Why the curd is hung and the gram flour roasted
Ordinary yoghurt is about 85 percent water, and that water does two unhelpful things on a grill — it drips off, and what stays behind has to boil away before any browning can start. Straining it removes most of the whey so the marinade clings as a paste. The roasted gram flour absorbs what water is left and adds protein, which browns readily. Together they give you a coating that chars in ten minutes rather than slowly steaming the paneer grey.
Notes
- Soak wooden skewers for half an hour or they burn through before the paneer colours.
- Firm, dry paneer holds up best. Very soft fresh paneer will crumble on the skewer.
- Any leftover marinade is worth grilling on the tray alongside and scraping over the top.