Paneer Tikka (Grilled Cottage Cheese)

It has been raining a lot in Kolkata since 2 days. Monsoons have arrived officially and so has the time for yummy snacks. I have been craving for some lip-smacking starters for quite a few days and as outside-food is strictly NO for me as of now, I decided to whip up something quickly at home in order to satisfy myself. So, without wasting any more time, I ordered for paneer from the local shop and made Paneer Tikka at home. Though I missed my husband while gorging on the juicy tikkas, my dad enjoyed to the fullest.

Not keeping the joy to myself, here I am sharing the recipe with you so that you can enjoy the rains too. Happy Cooking and Happy Monsoons…

Ingredients

For the Tikkas:

Paneer 300 gms

1 Large Green pepper

1 large onion

1 large Tomato

For the Marinade:

200 gms hung curd

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder

1 tsp Cumin powder and coriander powder each

½ tsp shahi garam masala powder

1 tsp dry mango powder

Oil for brushing

Common salt or rock salt as required

Method

• Chop the veggies and Paneer in medium sized cubes (symmetrical) and keep aside.
• Now it is time for preparing the marinade. In a large mixing bowl, take the hung curd and whisk till smooth.
• Add all the spices listed above for marination including salt.
• Add all the veggies and Paneer pieces to the marinade and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
• Now it is time for making the Tikkas. Skewer the paneer and veggies alternatively in wooden skewers. I have used toothpicks for making the tikkas at home. Brush some butter or oil on the tikkas.

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees for 3 minutes. Now, place the tikkas on a rack and then bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees. Remove the rack, turn the tikkas, brush some more oil/butter if required and then bake for 10 to 15 minutes more.
• If your microwave has in-built setting for Tikkas, you can also use that.
• Once done, place the tikkas on a plate, sprinkle some chat masala over it.
• The tikkas are ready to be serves with Green chutney and onion rings.

Do let me know how it was...

Paneer Makhani (Cottage Cheese cooked a rich tomato based gravy)

It has been a long day at work and thinking about cooking at home, I went berserk…

Looking at the refrigerator, all I could think of was to make something quick and delicious. So as usual, I relied on Paneer and prepared this easy to make recipe:

Ingredients

Paneer 200 gms

3 to 4 cloves of garlic, a little ginger – Crush them together

1 large tomato, pureed

Salt to taste

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

A few Cardamoms, cloves and a bit of Cinnamon

Mustard oil for cooking (Refined oil can be used as well)

Method 

• Cut the Paneer into cubes of desired size and fry them in hot oil in a kadhai to get a light golden colour. Drain them from oil and keep it aside

• To the hot oil now add Cardamoms, cloves and a bit of Cinnamon
• Now add crushed garlic and ginger to the oil. After around 30 seconds, add the pureed tomato to it.
• Cook on a high flame till the watery portion gets evaporated.
• Now add turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and sugar. Stir well on a high flame till the oil starts separating out from rest of the masala.
• Pour water. Adjust the quantity of water as per the desired amount of gravy. Bring it to boil and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes on a high flame or till you get gravy of thick consistency.
• Finally add all the paneer cubes and mix well with the gravy. Sprinkle a little garam masala powder and remove from flame.

 

Your Paneer Makhani is ready to be served with chapattis.

Chhana-Fulkopir Jhol (Paneer and Cauliflower Sabzi)

Ingredients

Paneer – 200 Gms, cut into cubes

Cauliflower (PhoolGobi/FulKopi), 1medium sized, cut into several pieces as shown below

Potato, 2 cut into 4 or 5 pieces each

1 medium sized tomato

2 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 ½ tsp Turmeric powder

1 ½ tsp Cumin powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Red Chilli powder

½ tsp Garam Masala powder

Sugar 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Mustard oil for cooking (You can also choose cooking oil of you choice)

Method

• Boil water in a saucepan and add a spoonful of salt. Once the water starts boiling, add the paneer pieces and keep for 10 minutes. Drain out the water and keep the paneer aside.
• Take Ginger paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, Red Chilli powder and turmeric powder in a small bowl and make a paste out of it by adding a little water.
• Add oil in a Kadhai and add the paneer pieces once it is hot. Fry paneer till it turns slight brown in colour. Remove from the Kadhai. Fry the potatoes in similar fashion.
• Pour some more oil and wait till it is hot. Throw in cumin seeds and let them splutter. Now, add the cauliflower pieces and fry it for a while.
• Once the cauliflower turns golden in colour, add the potatoes and the spice paste (refer to step 2).

You can even add green chillies if you want it to be spicy.

• Now add sugar and salt to it and also throw in chopped tomatoes.
• Cook all the ingredients till the spices mix well with the vegetables and a nice aroma comes out.
• Add some water for the gravy and allow the vegetables to cook for sometime (till the cauliflower and potatoes are done) on low flame.
• Finally, add the paneer pieces and cook for 1 minute on high flame.
• Sprinkle some garam masala powder and some ghee before removing from flame.
• You can garnish it with coriander leaves if you want.

Garnish with coriander leaves if you want

Serve hot with rice or chapattis.