Paneer Tikka Masala

Paneer Tikka Masala is a delicious and popular North Indian delicacy. This dish can be served as a main course and goes well with rice or naan. I have modified the original recipe of tikka masala a little bit, to make it easier and convenient for a home preparation without having to compromise the taste, which turns out to be like the restaurant style one. So lets start to cook with "Flavors of Sneha's Kitchen".


Ingredients:

Paneer Tikka

For Paneer Tikka:
Paneer cubes
Diced capsicum
Diced onion
500 gms of thick yogurt
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp of kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder (optional)
1/2 tsp of black salt
1 tbsp of butter
Wooden skewers

For Gravy:
2 tbsp of oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds

Paneer Tikka Masala

1 bay leaf
1 small onion finely chopped
puree of 2 tomatoes
1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp of cashew paste (Soak handful of cashew in 1/4 cup of milk and blend to a smooth paste)
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
Salt to taste
little water



Method:

• In a big bowl add yogurt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, salt, chilli powder, coriander powder, cinnamon powder and black salt. Whisk everything together to make a homogenous paste.
• Now add paneer cubes, capsicum and onion. Mix everything together to get a good coating.
• Cover this with plastic wrap and refrigerate this for 1-2 hrs.
• Soak the skewers in water for 5-10 minutes. Now skew the marinated paneer, onion and capsicum on the skewers.
• You can either grill this or pan fry or cook it in the oven. Just apply some butter or oil before grilling them.
• Once it gets the browning all over take out and keep it aside.
• To make the gravy heat oil in a pan and crackle the cumin seeds and bay leaf.
• Add the chopped onion and fry until it gets the light golden color.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and fry until the raw flavor of garlic is gone.
• Add the tomato puree and salt. Mix well and cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Now add the coriander powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Stir for few minutes.
• Add the cashew paste and cook until all the spices start leaving the pan and oil starts appearing from the corner.
• Now add little water to get the medium to thick consistency.
• Let it come to a boil and add the grilled paneer and veggies.
• Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Let this cover for few minutes after taking it off from the flame.
• Serve hot with naan or rice. 

Note: If you don't wish to make the gravy, you can always serve the paneer tikka as an appetizer. Just sprinkle some chaat masala before serving.

If you're making the tikkas in oven, always preheat the oven at 350C and brush some oil or butter before putting this in oven. After 10 minutes, remove it, turn the skewers, brush some oil and again cook it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. You can grill or pan fry the tikkas in the same manner.