Paneer Tikka Lehsuni :

3 min readMay 17, 2021

Paneer Tikka is a popular Indian appetizer made with cubes of paneer & veggies marinated with yogurt and spices. Traditionally it’s grilled in a tandoor but you can make the same version in the oven with this easy recipe!

Tikka basically means anything that is marinated and then baked or grilled or fried and paneer tikka is a popular vegetarian tikka dish. This tasty homemade version is similar to the dish served in restaurants, but I would say actually tastes better!

The Indian spice powders mixed with the yogurt (curd) make a flavorful marinade that is soaked up by the porous paneer cubes. Grilling the skewers then produces a nice slightly crispiness on the paneer.

Have a look at my version I've prepared it over a sign oven with some smokey charcoals & ‘Lehsuni’ in this recipe stands for a kicking punchy flavor of Garlic in this starter.

RECIPE

Serving : 6pax ; Time : 25–30 min ; cooking temperature : high (450°F/230°C)

Ingredients for :

Paneer/ Cottage cheese — 450gm

Bell pepper — 50 gm

Onions — 50gm

First marination:

Salt — few pinches

Degi mirch — few pinches

Lemon juice — 10ml

Second marination:

Hung curd*/ Thick curd — 150gm

Mustard oil — 50ml

Finely chopped garlic — 30gm

Powdered spice: (yellow chili-10gm,turmeric-3gm, coriander powder-4gm, garam masala-6gm, black salt-to taste )

Roasted gram flour — 25gm

Kasuri methi/ Dried fenugreek — 10gm

Ginger Garlic paste — 15gm

Garnish:

Butter+Cream

Chat masala

Chopped coriander

Method:

STEPS:

1. Cut the vegetables & paneer into 1–1.5 inch cubes & dices. Sprinkle the first marination, mix it well & keep it aside in a refrigerator for 15min.

2. In a bowl take hung curd mix all the second marination ingredients apart from the chopped garlic, through wisk & make a smooth marinade paste from it.

3. Saute garlic in a pan till golden brown & add it into the marinade.

4. Mix the second marination along with vegetables & refrigerate it for another 30–40 min.

5. coherently screw your tikkas & follow the order accordingly. Roast it for 5–10min at a high temperature until it gets golden charks over the cottage cheese.

6. Unscrew it, serve it hot with the respective garnish.

*for making Hung curd use a muslin cloth or any fine mesh cloth with a colander. Place it over a container to collect the whey. Add the curd into it, make it all together by squeezing the cloth to remove excess water from it. Apply some weight over it & keep it aside for 4–6 hours.

*by replacing chopped garlic with ajwain/ carom seed from the recipe you can make it Ajwaini paneer tikka or the same as with some pickle sauce for Achari paneer tikka.