Pudina Paneer Tikka/ Minty Green Paneer Cheese Tikka

Posted on by Anushruti
Pudina Paneer Tikka/ Minty Green Paneer Cheese Tikka

My love for paneer has doubled after I recently discovered that my toddler loves it too! As much as I do! Many a time, when he returns home after his evening jaunts, Hari comes up to me and asks for “paneen”! Whenever we are at a restaurant as soon as he spots a steward, he asks for “paneen”! The funny part here is that it mostly happens when we are at an Italian restaurant!

Subsequently when we were at an Indian restaurant and Hari asked the chef for pizza, and I told him that he would get paneen here, the smile on his face lit up our evening! And seeing the way he ate his piece of paneer, bite after bite, judging and assimilating the taste of the spices accompanied by exuberant facial expressions, his father declared jestfully “henceforth, we will dine only at Indian restaurants”!

Although Hari likes to eat “noonles” (noodles) at a Chinese restaurant and pizza at our favourite Italian restaurant, paneer wins hands down as his favourite food outside and at home! And I find myself making paneer much more than before to please my very difficult, picky and choosy 2 1/2 year old eater!

This recipe actually comes from my mother! When she came to stay with us when I was expecting Hari, she rustled this up one evening and I was so pleased with its simple yet extraordinary taste, that I immediately jotted down the recipe. My mother is a very instinctive cook and rustles up dishes from what is available on hand and I had to write it for posterity before it got erased from her memory!

Coated with a fresh paste of ground mint leaves and other spices, marinated & grilled in the oven, this dish not only looks gorgeous but also tastes brilliant with just the right mix of all the spices. This is great served as a starter for a party and can also be part of a main course depending on what’s there to go with it. It can also go into your kids tiffin box, served this way or used as a stuffing between two slices of bread to become a sandwich or put inside a roti or a tortilla to become a wrap. A salad with this kind of a sandwich or a wrap makes this a complete meal!

 

Pudina Paneer Tikka/ Minty Green Paneer Cheese Tikka Recipe

You can replace the paneer with vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli or potato!

Ingredients:

500 gm (1 lb) paneer
2 tomatoes, cut into thick rings
2 bell peppers, cut into thick squares
50 gm (1 cup) pudina, cleaned
25 gm (1/2 cup) fresh coriander or cilantro, cleaned
1 green chili (or more if you want it spicy)
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp black salt (kala namak) or regular salt or to taste
225 gm (1 cup) yogurt, drained to get 1/2 a cup
1 tsp crumbled kasuri methi (optional)
1 tsp chaat masala (optional)

Method:

Cut the paneer into 1 1/2” by 2” pieces or the size that you want and keep aside.

In a blender or food processor, assemble the pudina, cilantro, green chili, ginger, black salt and yogurt and blend to a fine paste without using any water.

Put in the optional kasuri methi into the ground paste if desired.

Coat all the cut paneer and vegetable pieces with the prepared paste and marinate for an hour or two in the refrigerator. This makes the paneer absorb the flavours of the ground paste.

Arrange all the paneer and vegetable pieces in a tray and grill in an oven at 200 C/ 400 F for about 20 to 25 minutes, turning the pieces once in between.

Sprinkle the optional chaat masala over the paneer and serve hot or at room temperature.

Serves 4

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30 thoughts on “Pudina Paneer Tikka/ Minty Green Paneer Cheese Tikka”

  2. hi anu sitting in cairo n watching ur tempting dish just
    just waitng to eat good vegetarian food
    ur snacks r my saviours rava laddoos r very heaavenly

  6. How weird is that I looove to add mint to my paneer tikkas too. I guess the difference in my recipe is that I also add some tomato paste to the mint/yougurt/spices mixture and then marinate it and grill. Also I squeeze a lemon and chaat masala on it before serving.

  9. Looks super yummy. As always can't wait to try one of your awesome recipes at home. they are always a hit!! Thank you for making me popular at home 😀

  13. gosh, i was looking for a recipe for minty paneer starter and u posted it!! thank u so much! P.S. lucky hari.. his mom makes such yummy 'paneen'!

  17. Wow!! this is fantastic looking and am sure taste even better. I made a mention of you in my blog post today..do have a read at pancuisine.blogspot.com,if you find time and hey thanks for all these beautiful recipes you're sharing

  18. Hi Anushruti!
    I tried this today and I LOVED it! It was simply yummmmy! Just felt my paneer was a little dry but that is normally the case with the kind of paneer you get here in the States.. I'm going to ask my Mom in Mumbai to try it with homemade paneer.. In fact, my Mom and I were discussing about how to make paneer tikka at home ( she's an awesome cook too ) and that's when I get your new recipe update on FB about paneer tikka!! We're Jains.. consume absolutely no roots, so your recipes are a blessing for me! Living away from Mumbai, Jain food here in restaurants, is difficult to get but I'm managing well 🙂 I'm bringing up my 2 little daughters with the same values that I've gotten from my Parents..
    I check your website whenever I'm online! Please give me a recipe for pizza sauce! It's impossible to get Pizza here without garlic in the sauce! And I want to make that perfect pizza at home! The sauce I make is doable but I'm sure you'll give me something PERFECT!
    Thanks again for the amazing job you're doing!
    Love,
    NSJ

  19. Thank you everybody for your wonderful words! Each and every comment means a lot to me and I'm glad you all like this "paneen"!

    Aarthi: You are welcome! Thank you for taking your time to write!

    Nitya: Hope you make and like it!

    Rustoo: Hope your mom made this for you! You will love it!

    Sneh: Those are the exact words! Rustic and succulent!

    Panmeiz cuisine: Thank you for featuring my coconut cookies!

    NSJ: So happy you loved this! 🙂 And even more happy that my recipes are useful to you and your family! Will try and post a yummy pizza sauce recipe soon! Promise!

  20. Hey Anushruti, I am cooking it for dinner today 🙂
    But after marinating it I realised that I do not have a grill…so can I bake it for sometime and then place it under the broiler.

  22. I made this today for my girlfriends for lunch – and everybody just loved it!! There's nothing left over for vinu for dinner though!

  24. The pictres look very sumptous indeed. However i have got a query – you'v mentioned that the paneer & veg need to be grilled in the oven for 20-25min turning them around once. For the benefit of people you are not all too familiar with teh oven (aka – me) would you confirm whether I should set the oven on grill setting or on conventional baking setting. i aim to make this for guests over the weekend so awaiting your reply….Thanks again for sharing these beautifl recipes.

  25. Pria: It's mentioned in the recipe that you need to set your oven to grill. Bake it on the top rack whenever you use the grill setting. Hope you have a great weekend with this!

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