Paneer Tikka - Restaurant Style

One of the most happiest things about having moved to the US is the oven range in my kitchen :). It is with so much ease that I can make tikkas, cakes, muffins etc using this proper oven range. The OTG I used back home was just enough to get me started off with baking, grilling etc but I couldn't really do big things with that. For example, Paneer/Chicken tikkas never turned out that great in OTG's, they were quite dry and it took way too much time, and eventually I gave up trying to make the tikkas work in my OTG. The reason why I hadn't posted any kind of grilled Paneer/Chicken/Fish recipe here is primarily because I just wasn't satisfied with the outcome in my OTG.

But now that I have the full range oven that I had wanted for a really long time, we are going to see more of grilled stuff in FoodOverIP. The spice powders that make up the marination for the Paneer just tickled all the taste buds and you would cry for more of it with every bite :). I made this delicious Paneer tikka to pair with healthy Broccoli Parathas for a late Saturday lunch and it was the best lunch I had in the last few months!

Its an easy one if you have all the spice powders and yogurt, just mix up everything to coat the Paneer, rest it for a couple of hours, grill them for 5 minutes and you have Restaurant style Paneer Tikkas ready. I would recommend you to use all the spice powders and not miss any of them. They are the most important ingredients that make up for the taste and missing one-two of them would significantly modify the taste. Also if you have some marinade left, you could use some other veggie [I used mushroom] with it and grill them and have a great snack some other time. 

I forgot to add , I am a total "starter" person. I would just not be satisfied if I went to a restaurant and did not order any of the tikkas, kebabs :), so replicating these at home give me immense happiness. If you are like me, you should definitely try this one, they are irresistible :).

Ingredients

Recipe Source - Monsoon Spice
Serves - 2
Spice Level - Moderate
Prep Time - 5 min + 1 hr of resting time
Cook Time - 5 min

Paneer - 250 gm, cut into big square blocks
Oil - 1 Tbsp

For the Marinade
Thick Yogurt - 1.5 cups [ Recommended to use Greek or Hung curd, or normal yogurt but it should not be very sour ]
Tandoori Masala - 1 Tsp
Garam Masala - 1 Tsp
Coriander Powder/Dhaniya - 1 Heaped tsp
Amchur Powder - 1/2 Tsp or substitute with 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
Turmeric Powder 1/4 Tsp
Kitchen King Masala - 1/2 Tsp
Jeera/Cumin Powder -1/2 Tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 Tsp
Sugar - 1 Tsp
Salt - 1 Tsp

How do you do it

1. Beat the yogurt well to get smooth, silky texture and remove any lumps.

2. Add all the spice powders, sugar, salt one by one and mix well.

3. Add the paneer pieces one by one and coat well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I rested it for an hour and it was perfect.

4. Take a cookies sheet and line it with parchment paper. Coat it with a tbsp of oil. Arrange the paneer pieces on it and grill with high setting for 2-3 minutes.

5. Take the cookie sheet out after 2 min, use a tong to turn the paneer pieces to the other side and grill for another 2 minutes until it crisps to a dark brown on the sides.

6. Alternately if you don't have an oven, use a big flat pan, apply some oil on it and toast the marinated paneer pieces on both sides.

Yummy Paneer tikka starter is ready. Enjoy. :)