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aerial shot paneer tikka skewers stacked on a vintage platter with green chutney and salad
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4.67 from 3 votes

Achari Paneer Tikka Recipe

This is the best Achari Paneer Tikka made at home in just 20 minutes. Learn how to make restaurant style paneer tikka on tawa in few simple steps.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Marination1 hour
Total Time1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 6
Calories: 259kcal
Author: Hina Gujral

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup paneer cubes, cottage cheese
  • 1 Cup capsicum, cut into cubes
  • 1 Cup tomato, discard pulp
  • 1 Cup onion, cut into cubes

Ingredients For Marinade

  • ¼ Cup mustard oil
  • 1 teaspoon kalonji (nigella seeds)
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
  • ¼ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
  • 1 Cup thick or hung curd (yogurt)
  • 2 tablespoon roasted gram flour (besan)
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 1 tablespoon roasted cumin powder
  • 1 tablespoon ginger - garlic paste (Get Recipe)
  • Salt to taste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon Kasuri Methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
  • 1 teaspoon pickle spice mix, (optional) ( see recipe )

Ingredinets For Smoked Flavor:

  • 2 - 3 hot coal pieces
  • 1 tablespoon ghee or butter, hot

Instructions

Prep Work For Paneer Tikka

  • Cut the paneer and the vegetables. keep them aside in a bowl.
  • In a frying pan or tadka pan, smoke mustard oil over the gas flame. Add nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, and carom seeds. Turn off the heat immediately. Swirl and allow the oil to cool down. Set aside.

Prepare Marinade:

  • Combine thick curd, gram flour, spices, salt in a bowl and whisk to form a smooth, lump free mixture.
  • Now add the cooled down, smoked mustard oil. Whisk the marinade nicely once again to combine all the ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  • Add the paneer cubes and vegetables to the marinade. Mix to coat each piece with the marinade. You can marinade the tikka overnight or at least for 1 - 2 hours. While marinating keep tikka in the refrigerator.

Adding Smoked Flavor:

  • In the bowl of marinated tikka, place a small stainless steel bowl in the center. Add hot live pieces of coal to the small bowl. Immediately drizzle hot ghee or butter over the coal pieces to create smoke. Cover the big bowl with a lid. Let the smoke engulf the entore bowl of marinated paneer tikka for 5 - 6 minutes. Watch the recipe video for this step.

Grilling Paneer Tikka

  • Skew the marinated paneer and vegetables in metal or bamboo skewers.
  • Now you can cook the tikka on a bbq grill, direct flame, oven, or over the gas stove on a grill pan. Either ways it does not take more than 15 - 20 minutes to get ready.
  • Drizzle lemon juice on tikka before serving.
  • Serve Achari Paneer Tikka with green chutney.

Video

Notes

  • Plain Greek yogurt is perfect for making the marinade. 
  • Do not use non roasted gram flour for the marinade. If readymade roasted gram flour is not available, dry roast regular gram flour for 1 minute in a frying pan.
  • To get the bright red color use only Kashmiri Red Chili Powder. 
  • Gently crush the Kasuri methi in between palms to help release its flavor and aroma.
  • Do not add hot mustard oil to the marinade. Allow it to cool down before adding to the marinade. 
  • Adding pickle spice mix is optional in this paneer tikka recipe. If you do not have pickle masala, add a teaspoon of mango pickle, mix vegetable pickle, or red chili pickle. Make sure to chop the pickle nicely. 
  • While grilling, once the paneer and the vegetables turn little brown from the edges they are ready to serve.
  • Leftover marinated paneer tikka can be used for sandwich/wrap stuffing or to make tawa pulao (see recipe here). 
  • Calories shared are for one skewer of paneer tikka.

Nutrition

Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 58mg | Potassium: 289mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 749IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 263mg | Iron: 2mg