paneer tikka

You can cook these on the grill or bake it in the oven – I make these year round and bake rather than grill.  And although I recommend home-made paneer, it will work well with store bought too (I hear the Nanak brand is very good) and I suspect so would extra firm Tofu.

Also, thanks S. for being a big sport and agreeing to be my hand model!

Paneer Tikka

Printable Recipe

Paneer:

1 gallon 2% milk
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
fine cotton cloth (like dhoti or cheesecloth)

Boil milk in a container large enough to hold the milk with some additional room on top.

Mix the white vinegar and water (Diluting the vinegar makes for a softer, less rubbery paneer).

When the milk comes to a full boil and starts to rise up, add the vinegar-water mixture.  The milk solids will separate from the whey.

Turn off the stove.

Line a colander with cheese/cotton cloth and pour the separated milk.  Drain the whey.

After about ten minutes, knot the opposite ends of the cloth.  Hang this for a couple of hours to let all the whey drain out (I used to hang it on the kitchen faucet for many years until I realized that it ruins the faucet and causes it to drip.  Now, I run the handle of a long wooden spoon through the loops formed by the knot and rest it across a tall vessel).  Also, I never press the paneer because I find simply letting the whey drain for a couple of hours gives me a firm paneer but you can use the pressed paneer method too.

Tikkas:

Paneer from 1 gallon milk, cubed.
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
2 orange bell peppers
1 large red onion
chaat masala
oil
skewers

Marinade:

7 oz greek yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
1 large clove garlic, finely grated
1 tsp grated ginger or ginger paste
3/4 tsp kasoori methi, crushed

Yum