Paneer Tikka

Paneer (commonly known as Cottage Cheese) is the one the most beloved cheese consumed by Indians (this is just a fact made up by me. Although there are no concrete stats on it, any desi can vouch for it  :) ). It is quite firm when cooked and is 'ballsy' enough to stand up the spices and the curry preparations unlike the other commonly used cheese varieties.

......And yes I did mention 'ballsy.' Other cheese varieties simply melt at the slightest hint of heat (no pun intended!).

This preparation is simply made on a griddle or a frying pan. Its best or (better said) 'authentic' flavor comes when cooked on a charcoal grill. But for a quick and lazy weekend the good ol' frying pan is the best option.

Also marination is the key to flavor in this recipe. The minimum time for marination should be at least 30 minutes. For this preparation, I marinated the paneer and vegetables before going to school and after coming back home, did rest of the cooking.

PANEER TIKKA
Ingredients:

1. Paneer/Firm Cottage Cheese (2-3 cups, diced into bite size pieces)
2. Capsicum/Bell Pepper (2 medium, cut bite size)
3. Onion (2 medium, cut bite size)
4. Yoghurt (1-1.5 cup)
5. Kastoori Methi /Fenugreek leaves (1tsp, dry)
6. Coriander powder (1-1.5 tsp)
7. Chilli powder (1 tsp or according to taste)
8. Turmeric powder (1 tbsp) 
9. Oil
10. Pepper, Salt (according to taste)
    

Method:
Cut the vegetables and the paneer into bite size pieces (try to make them the same size too!) and put them together in a bowl.

Now add the yoghurt, masalas (spices: chilli, turmeric, coriander and pepper power) and methi leaves.

Now this is something you HAVE to remember. Do NOT add the salt. The reason is because it will cause the vegetables to loose their water. And after a few hours they will be limp and mehhh....

 Some mixing action..

Cover the bowl..in whatever. Well not whatever, but either an aluminum foil or a saran wrap (i think thats what its called...lol).

I do this before storing it in the refrigerator so that the moisture from the refrigerator dosent mix with the vegetables. Im not sure if really makes a difference, but im anal about it...

Ok then...Moving on...

So after a few hours the vegetables and the paneer absorb the yoghurt mixture along with the spices. Now before cooking add in the salt. You can taste the marinated to see if the salt is to your liking.

This is what it looks like after a few hours:

Next separate the vegetables from the paneer. Both cook at different temperatures and separating them gives more control over how much you want the ingredients to be cooked.

To save time, i cooked the vegetables and the paneer in different pans at the same time. For this lightly coat the pan in oil and when hot, add the ingredients.

And the paneer after a couple of minutes of frying:

Also when you cook the vegetables for the tikka, make sure that they are still crunchy. If they get soft as in mushy soft, then they loose color and look less appetizing.  Smellin' goood

After both are done cooking mix both together. Usually in parties or small gatherings, its nice to arrange them in toothpicks with altering layers of vegetables and paneer.

Additionally to make it into a curry people add a tomato based curry to turn it into Paneer Tikka Masala. I will post more about it later.

Thank you for reading!  Happy Cooking!