Paneer Tikka Masala – Rich and Flavorful Curry!

Paneer Tikka Masala is a rich and flavorful Indian Curry made with marinated grilled cottage cheese (paneer) and vegetables with rich spiced tomato gravy as its base. This curry originated in northern India and is  now very popular across the continents. In this curry, paneer (also known as cottage cheese) and vegetables like bell peppers (capsicum) and onions are marinated in spiced yogurt and then grilled in either tandoor, oven, air fryer, or pan. Parallelly, base of the curry is made with the combination of tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, and tasty fragrant spices.

This recipe includes four different ways of grilling paneer tikka and two different ways of marinating paneer chunks and vegetables. It also includes two different ways of making curry base (with and without nuts). Mostly all the recipes use cashew nut to make gravy. To make gravy nuts free you can skip cashews totally or you can add dried pumpkin seeds or melon or cantaloupe seeds to give nutty flavor to the curry. But if you skip adding any types of nuts or seeds to gravy, this curry tastes just as well. Besides, you can use either good quality store bought Indian cottage cheese (paneer) or home made cottage cheese (also known as paneer).

How to make Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) at home

• Bring the 1 gallon of regular milk to boil.
• Let it cool a bit say for 5 minutes.
• Add lemon juice of about two lemons / limes per half gallon of milk.
• Let the milk curdle completely.
• Once the milk turns acidic, the milk protein coagulates and forms clumps called curds. These curds will get separated from the watery portion of the milk.
• Take a big deep vessel.
• Cover it with white cheese cloth or clean white cotton cloth.
• Transfer the curdled milk to the cloth and strain the milk curds and separate them from the watery part of the curdled milk.
• All milk curds will be separated and be there on the cheese cloth or white cotton cloth. Rest of the watery portion will be collected in the deep vessel underneath the cloth.
• With a spoon bring all the milk curds to the center of the cloth.
• Bring all the ends of the cloth in the middle and tie it really tight.
• Now hang this cheese / paneer in the cloth for about 2 hours.
• If your cheese has not solidified enough put a heavy weight on the tied cloth for another few hours.
• Put this setting in the refrigerator over night.
• Solid cottage cheese / Paneer is ready.

 

Preparation Time for Paneer Tikka – Varies from 45 minutes – 12 hours depends on how you want to marinate.

Cooking Time Paneer Tikka – 30 – 45 minutes

Preparation Time for Paneer Tikka Gravy– 10 minutes

Cooking Time Paneer Tikka – 10 – 15 minutes

 

Necessary Ingredients to make Paneer Tikka

• 400 grams Cottage Cheese / Paneer Chunks

• 3 – 4 cups of plain yogurt (curd)
• ½ green bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into big squares.
• ½ red bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into big squares.
• ½ yellow bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into big squares.
• ½ orange bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into big squares.
• ½ red Onion chopped into big squares.
• ½ tablespoon of grated ginger (ginger paste)
• ½ tablespoon of grated garlic (garlic paste)
• Salt to taste
• Red chili powder according to your taste
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin coriander powder
• 2 – 3 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon kasoori methi
• 1 teaspoon chaat masala (optional)
• 2 tablespoon roasted gram flour (optional)
• Cooking oil of your choice.

 

Necessary Ingredients to make gravy / curry base for Paneer Tikka Masala

• 4 – 6 chopped tomatoes (depends on the size of tomatoes) or 2 – 3 cups of tomato puree or 1 cup of tomato paste (I would recommend using fresh tomatoes for the authentic taste).
• 1 big onion chopped or 2 small, chopped onions.
• 1 ½ tablespoon of grated ginger (or ginger paste)
• 1 ½ tablespoon of grated garlic (or garlic paste)
• 2 tablespoon of melon seed or cashews (if you have nut allergies skip cashews and use melon seeds) – This step is optional. Curry tastes amazing without these ingredients.
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
• Red Chili Powder according to your taste (I have used Kashmiri red chili powder to give nice red color to the curry. Kashmiri red chili powder is bright red in color, very flavorful, and less spicy).
• 1 tablespoon of more according to your taste – Punjabi garam masala or garam masala.
• 2 tablespoons of cream (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of kasoori methi
• Cilantro or Coriander leaves for garnishing
• 2 – 3 tablespoons of Cooking Oil or Ghee (clarified butter) – your choice
• 2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 2 – 3 bay leaves
• 2- 3 small cinnamon sticks
• 2-3 cardamoms

 

Necessary Equipment

• Oven or air fryer or pan or tawa.
• Skewers made of metal or wooden.
• If using wooden skewers, soak them in the water for about 20 – 30 minutes before putting them in the oven.
• Deep pan with lid for cooking gravy (curry base) and paneer tikka masala curry.

 

How to marinate Paneer (cottage cheese) and vegetables – Recipe 1

• Take a big deep bowl.
• Add yogurt to it.

• Add salt, turmeric, chili powder, chaat masala, garam masala, cumin-coriander powder (optional), kasoori methi, ginger paste, and garlic paste to the yogurt.
• Stir everything well until the mixture is smooth.

• Marinate cottage cheese chunks and chopped vegetables in this spiced / flavored yogurt.

• Cover the bowl with a lid and put it in the refrigerator.
• Let the paneer chunks and chopped vegetables marinate for 6 – 12 hours.
• I like to do preparation the night before and I let paneer and vegetable marinate at least overnight. This gives amazing flavor to paneer tikka.
• The left over spiced yogurt marinate can be used as a dip for paneer tikka.

 

How to marinate Paneer (cottage cheese) and vegetables – Recipe 2

• Roast about 2 tablespoon of gram flour until it is aromatic.
• Take a big deep bowl.
• Add yogurt to it.
• Add roasted gram flour, salt, turmeric, chili powder, chaat masala, garam masala, cumin-coriander powder (optional), kasoori methi, ginger paste, and garlic paste to the yogurt.
• Stir everything well until the mixture is smooth.

• Marinate cottage cheese chunks and chopped vegetables in this spiced / flavored yogurt.
• Cover the bowl with a lid and put it in the refrigerator.
• Let the paneer chunks and chopped vegetables marinate for 30 minutes – 3 hours. Time of marinating is minimum 30 minutes. If you have more time on hand, you can marinate it for longer time.
• Adding gram flour is not part of traditional recipe. But it is used by restaurant chefs now a days to give nice aroma and for quick marinating the paneer tikka, chicken tikkas, veg tikkas, etc.
• Gram flour acts as binding agent between spiced yogurt and cottage cheese/ paneer chunks.

 

How to make flavorful and rich gravy / Curry base

• Take a deep pan.
• Put 1 ½ tablespoons of ghee or cooking oil and heat it up.
• Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 cinnamon sticks, 2-3 cardamoms and 2 bay leaves and let them sizzle.
• Now add chopped onions and sauté them well until the onions are transparent or light golden in color.
• Then add chopped tomato / tomato puree / tomato paste. Stir everything well.  

• Add cashews / or melon seeds – (This step is optional – you can skip adding nuts or seeds).
• Add grated garlic and ginger or ginger garlic paste.

• Now add turmeric, red chili powder, Punjabi garam masala (or garam masala), salt, and sugar (optional).
• Stir everything well and let the spices mix well.
• Sauté everything for 2-3 minutes on medium flame until you smell amazing aroma of spices.
• Let everything slow cook on low medium flame.
• Cover the pan with the lid and keep stirring in between until everything is mushy and soft.

• Turn off the gas once the base is ready. Let this mixture cool down for about 5 – 10 minutes.
• Transfer everything to the blender jar or you can use the hand blender too.
• Add ½ or ¾ cup of water (cold water to cut down the cooling time) to the blender jar.

• Put the lid on the jar. Crush and blend the mixture to puree the contents properly until puree is smooth and blended well.
• Take the deep pan and add about 1 tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil to the pan.
• Let it heat up and add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and 2 bay leaves.
• Let it sizzle.
• Add the blended puree to the pan.

• Add red chili powder to the puree if you need to adjust the taste and color of the gravy.
• Put the lid on the pan and let the puree cook until it thickens and until gravy starts separating from the oil / ghee.
• Keep stirring in between.

• Add about 2 table spoon of heavy milk cream on top of it and stir it well (cream is optional).
• Sprinkle little bit of garam masala on the top of the gravy.

• Sprinkle little bit (about a pinch or 2) kasoori methi on the top of the gravy.
• Thick, rich, and flavorful gravy / curry base is ready for paneer tikka masala.

 

How to grill / make Paneer Tikkas – Method 1 – (Airfryer or Oven with skewer)

• If you are using wooden skewers please soak them in water for 20 – 30 minutes before using them.
• Take skewers, insert marinated cottage cheese / paneer chunks and vegetables in the skewer.
• Preheat the oven at 350 F (177 C) for about 10 minutes. If using airfryer of your convection oven, preheat at 450 F (232 C).

• Put the tikkas in the airfryer and let it grill for about 10 – 20 minutes until tikkas are golden brown.
• If using oven, arrange the skewers on the baking tray and bake it for about 10 – 20 minutes at 350 F. Every 5 minutes, keep turning the skewers on other sides, and let it bake/ grill on all sides until tikkas are golden brown in color. Please use mitten while handling hot things.

• Serve / eat the tikkas hot with cilantro mint chutney and left-over spiced yogurt marinate dip. These Tikkas can be eaten as appetizers or they can be used to make Paneer Tikka Masala Curry.

 

How to grill / make Paneer Tikkas – Method 2 – (Oven without skewer)

• Take a baking tray, line it up with aluminum foil and lightly grease it with cooking oil.
• Preheat the oven at 350 F (177 C) for about 10 minutes.
• Arrange the marinated chunks of paneer and vegetables in baking tray about 2 centimeters apart from each other.
• Put the baking tray in the oven.
• Bake / Grill the tikkas for about 20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
• Keep turning the tikkas every 5 minutes with the help of fork and mittens. So, the tikkas are grilled on all the sides.

• Serve / eat the tikkas hot with cilantro mint chutney and left-over spiced yogurt marinate dip. These Tikkas can be eaten as appetizers or they can be used to make Paneer Tikka Masala Curry.

 

How to grill / make Paneer Tikkas – Method 3 – (on pan / tawa without skewer)

• Take a pan or a tawa.
• Grease it with cooking oil.
• Heat it on the medium flame.

• Arrange the marinated chunks of paneer and vegetables in baking tray about 2 centimeters apart from each other.
• Cover it with the lid.
• Cook / Grill the tikkas for about 20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

• Keep turning the tikkas every 5 minutes with the help of fork and mittens. So, the tikkas are grilled on all the sides.

• Serve / eat the tikkas hot with cilantro mint chutney and left-over spiced yogurt marinate dip. These Tikkas can be eaten as appetizers or they can be used to make Paneer Tikka Masala Curry.

 

How to grill / make Paneer Tikkas – Method 4 – (on pan / tawa with skewer)

• Insert the marinated chunks of paneer and vegetables into the skewers.
• Take a pan or a tawa.
• Grease it with cooking oil.
• Heat it on the medium flame.
• Arrange the skewers on the pan / tawa.
• Cover it with the lid.
• Cook / Grill the tikkas for about 20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
• Keep turning the tikkas every 5 minutes. So, the tikkas are grilled on all the sides.

• Serve / eat the tikkas hot with cilantro mint chutney and left-over spiced yogurt marinate dip. These Tikkas can be eaten as appetizers or they can be used to make Paneer Tikka Masala Curry.

 

How to make Paneer tikka Masala Curry

 

• To the cooked hot curry base, add the grilled paneer and vegetable tikkas to the gravy on a medium flame.
• Stir everything very gently.
• Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
• And garnish the curry with fresh Cilantro / Coriander leaves and few drops of cream.

• Paneer Tikka Masala is ready to eat / serve.

This curry goes really well cumin rice (jeera rice) / paratha / naan.

 

Click the link below to know how to make Garam masala at home

Garam Masala Recipe link

Click the link below to know how to make Cilantro Mint Chutney / Dip

Cilantro Mint Chutney – Dip / Coriander Mint Chutney – Dip / Fudina Chutney

 

 

Tips –

• Punjabi garam masala or regular garam masala are easily available in Indian stores or near by ethnic stores. If not then please use the above link to know how to make your garam masala at home with the regular spices you have in your kitchen.
• Nuts free Paneer Tikka Masala tastes really good try it even if you do not have allergies.
• Please do not use sour yogurt to marinate the tikkas.
• I like to marinate different fruits and vegetables like apples, yellow squash, zucchini, etc. too and grill them with above method.
• If you do not have any of the above-mentioned spices, you can skip them and your tikkas will taste just as good with just yogurt, salt, chili powder, garlic, and ginger paste.
• If you have dietary restrictions and want to skip any of the above ingredients, please go ahead this appetizer will taste good.
• You can use above recipes to make any kind of tikkas with any kind of vegetables and meat.
• You can use the similar yogurt based marinate and grilling techniques to make very popular appetizers like Chicken Tikka.

 

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