Tandoori Paneer Tikka

The best Tandoori Paneer Tikka in the oven you’ll ever make at home!

Making tandoori paneer tikka in the oven at home is serious business guys. And I’ve made sure this recipe is fool proof before I decided to share it here. Because you guys deserve only the best and nothing else!

Honestly, I was a little nervous because tandoori paneer tikka has quite the God like status in our house. We are picky about our tikkas and we don’t like to mess around. They have to be light, the paneer has to be soft, each piece of tikka has to be flavored just right and marinated well and there should be char to lend that smokiness we love so much.

How to make tandoori paneer tikka in the oven

Step 1: Marinate the paneer

Step 2: Skewer it

Step 3: Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet so that its slightly raised.

Step 4: Bake/ roast for the best restaurant style tandoori paneer tikka in the oven!

We are talking about a fiery red marinade for this paneer tikka but without any added color because we are against food coloring mostly. You don’t need those chemicals unless you are making a red velvet lava cake (coming up!). But you do need Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder which has all the color but no heat.

DESCRIPTION

This is the best Tandoori Paneer Tikka in the oven you’ll ever make at home! Same restaurant style taste, but roasted in a home oven.

INGREDIENTS

for the paneer tikka

• 2 cups Paneer cubes, cut into 1 inch cubes (Cottage Cheese)
• 1 medium sized onion, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 capsicum, deseeded and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 large tomato, deseeded and cut into cubes (optional)
• chopped Coriander or Cilantro, Lime juice for topping

for the marinade

• 3 tablespoons Mustard Oil
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Paste
• 1 teaspoon Ginger Paste
• 1/2 cup thick Curds (or Greek Yogurt)
• 2 teaspoons Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder(or Paprika)
• 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
• 1 teaspoon Chaat Masala Powder(available at Asian/Indian stores)
• 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
• 1 teaspoon kasuri methi(crushed)
• Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix all the ingredients under marinade into a bowl and add paneer to it. Toss the paneer in the marinade till the cubes are coated well. Cover and set aside for at least half an hour or up to two hours.
2. Pre-heat oven to 220 C/ 430 F 10 minutes before ready to cook. Place a cooling rack over a roasting pan and set aside.
3. Skewer paneer cubes alternating with onions, capsicum and tomato (if using). This should make about 3-4 skewers.
4. Place the skewers on the cooling rack and bake for 15 minutes, turning once half way. After 15 minutes, switch on the broiler (or only the upper element of the oven) and broil for 2-3 minutes till the paneer has a slight char on the surface.
5. Carefully remove the roasting pan with the skewers out of the oven (the paneer tends to become really soft so be careful) and place the skewers on your serving platter. Top with chopped coriander and squeeze lime juice on them. Serve immediately with sliced onions.