Paneer Tikka Masala Recipe (Restaurant Style)

This Paneer Tikka Masala is a restaurant style recipe with bright flavors from the creamy and spiced tomato onion curry gravy or sauce and delightfully marinated grilled cottage cheese. Best served with a side of naan, chapati, roti or paratha.

Prep Time1hour hr 30minutes mins

Cook Time30minutes mins

Total Time2hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings: 4

Calories: 379kcal

Ingredients

For marination

250 to 300 grams Paneer (cottage cheese) - cut into cubes or squares
1 bell pepper or capsicum, medium-sized - diced (green, red, yellow)
1 onion medium-sized, halved and the layers removed
6 tablespoons Hung Curd or Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon crazy dip Ginger Garlic Paste - or 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves and 1 inch ginger crushed to a smooth paste in mortar-pestle
1 teaspoon lemon juice or lime juice
½ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder or deghi mirch or red chili powder or cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon Coriander Powder - optional
½ teaspoon Garam Masala or tandoori masala powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
2 to 3 pinches nutmeg powder or grated nutmeg (ground nutmeg)
12 to 15 saffron strands - crushed, or 1 generous pinch of saffron powder - optional
1 tablespoon gram flour or chickpea flour or cornstarch
1 to 2 teaspoons oil - for brushing, only if grilling or baking
½ teaspoon salt or as required
4 tablespoons oil - for pan frying

For blanching

water as required - for blanching
1 pinch salt - for blanching
2 onions - medium-sized or 1 large onion or 100 grams onion - peeled and halved
3 tomatoes - medium-sized, or 200 grams tomatoes

Other ingredients

1 teaspoon crazy dip Ginger Garlic Paste or 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger crushed in a mortar-pestle to a paste
2 to 2.5 tablespoons curd (yogurt), full fat or made with whole milk - whisked well till smooth
2 tablespoons oil or 2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
½ teaspoon cumin powder (ground cumin), optional
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
½ teaspoon red chili powder or kashmiri red chili powder or deghi mirch or cayenne pepper or paprika
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
½ teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves - crushed (kasuri methi)
½ cup water or add as required
3 to 4 tablespoons light cream - 25% to 35% low fat cream or 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
salt as required
½ to 1 teaspoon sugar - optional
1 to 2 tablespoons coriander leaves - chopped (cilantro), for garnish

Instructions

Marinating paneer

Whisk the hung curd or greek yogurt till smooth in a large bowl. You can also use a really thick curd instead of hung curd.
Add all the ginger-garlic paste, spice powders, lemon juice, corn starch or gram flour and salt. Mix well.
Add the paneer cubes, onions, bell pepper.
Gently mix again so that the marination coats the paneer, onions and bell peppers evenly. Cover the bowl and marinate for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

Grilling paneer in oven

Line a baking tray or pan with aluminum foil. This method makes its easier to clean the pan later.
Thread the paneer cubes on a bamboo or metal skewers and place them on the prepared pan.

Preheat the oven to 200° C (390° F) for at least 10 minutes before you grill the paneer cubes.

For a regular oven, keep only the top heating element on and keep the pan in the top rack. For a microwave oven use the convection mode and preheat at 180° C (350° F).
Brush about 1 to 2 teaspoons oil evenly on the paneer and bell pepper cubes.
Grill the skewered paneer cubes and veggies in a preheated oven at 200° C (390° F) for a total of 15 to 20 minutes (depending on the oven temperatures).

While grilling remove the tikka halfway, turn over each paneer cubes & vegetables and then continue to grill.

Just keep an eye when the paneer is getting grilled in the oven.

Pan frying tikka cubes

Heat about 1 to 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Place the threaded paneer cubes and veggies with the skewers on the pan.
Fry the paneer cubes on medium heat. Adjust the heat as needed.
Gently rotate the skewers, when one side is crisp and browned. Keep on rotating till all the sides are browned.
Add more oil if required, while frying. Keep the fried paneer cubes and veggies aside.

Making onion and tomato puree

Boil water with a pinch of salt. Add halved onions and tomatoes to the boiling water.
Cook for one or two minutes. Turn off the heat. Cover and keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
You can also add cashews to the hot water. Adding cashews gives a creamier consistency with a nice sweetness.
Later drain and chop the onions and tomatoes roughly. It is not necessary to blanch, but blanching reduces the cooking time later.
Next chop the onions roughly and make a smooth fine paste in a grinder or blender.
Peel and roughly chop the tomatoes. Make a smooth and fine puree of the tomatoes in the grinder or blender. Keep both the onion and tomato puree aside.
Whisk or beat the yogurt till smooth and keep aside. There should be no lumps in the yogurt and it should be beaten well.

Making paneer tikka masala

In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil and then add the onion paste.
Stir often and saute till the onions paste turns golden.
Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for some seconds till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
Add the tomato puree. Stir well and saute till you see fat leaving sides of the masala.
Now add all the dry spice powders - turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala or tandoori masala.
Stir well so that the spices are incorporated in the masala paste evenly.
Turn off heat and remove the pan from the stovetop and place on the kitchen countertop.
Add beaten fresh curd (yogurt). Removing the pan from stovetop, won't allow the yogurt to curdle. Use full fat and fresh curd.
Stir to mix well. Add water and salt. Keep pan back on the stovetop on low to medium-low heat. Stir again.
Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes or till the gravy thickens and you see fat floating on the top.

You can keep the consistency from medium to slightly thick. The consistency can be altered by adding more or less water.

Add cream and kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves). Stir well and simmer on a low heat for a minute.

Check the taste and add more salt or cream if you prefer. You can also about ½ to 1 teaspoon of sugar for a light sweet taste.

Then add the grilled or pan-fried paneer and veggies cubes. Turn off the heat and mix well.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve Paneer Tikka Masala with some naan, roti or jeera rice.

Notes

Tomatoes: For the gravy or curry, use ripe, red and slightly sweet tomatoes. Avoid using tomatoes which are too tangy or sour or unripe.
Curd (Yogurt): For marinating the paneer cubes, use fresh hung curd or use a thick yogurt like Greek yogurt. Do not use hung curd which has become sour. For the gravy too, use fresh curd or yogurt.
You can easily make hung curd:
- Line a clean muslin or cheesecloth on a strainer on top of the bowl.
- Place the fresh curd or yogurt on the muslin or cheesecloth.
- Bring together all edges of the muslin and make a knot.
- Gently press and keep the muslin on the strainer.
- Press a heavy weight object like a lid or bowl or tray on top of the muslin.
- Place the bowl, strainer, muslin with the curd, weight et all in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. The whey will collect in the bowl and creamy smooth hung curd will be left in the muslin.
- For this recipe you can use 1 cup of fresh curd to make hung curd.
Paneer: For making any paneer based curry dish, it is always best to make the paneer at home. If using packaged paneer, then follow the instructions mentioned on the pack before marinating them.
Grilling or pan-frying: Do not grill or pan-fry the paneer cubes for a long time as this will result in the cubes getting dense and rubbery.
Curd: Be sure to use curd or yogurt made from whole milk or full-fat curd for the tikka gravy or sauce.
Consistency: The consistency of the gravy is medium to medium-thick. So add water accordingly to get the consistency you prefer.

Nutrition

Paneer Tikka Masala Recipe (Restaurant Style)