Tawa Paneer Tikka With Assorted Grilled Vegetables

Don't have a grill, oven??? Love panner tikkas with crispy grilled vegetables??
Here an easy way to make them on your very own Tawa (griddle) at home, on the gas stove! Doesn't it sound exciting and easy..Now you can make paneer tikka's any time at home at your convenience. With such simple ingredients and veggies you can enjoy these grilled,smoky and flavourful tikka's any time.


Ingredients:

• Paneer/Cottage Cheese- 250 Gms 
• Bell peppers -  Green, Yellow and Red - 1 each
• Tomato- 2 Large 
• Onions- 2 Large 
• Cauliflower (optional)
• Broccoli (optional)
• Baby Potatoes (optional)
• Mushrooms (optional)
• Corn Cob (optional)

For the Marinade:

• Thick or Hung Yoghurt/Curd/Dahi - 250 Gms , about 2 cups 
• Ginger -Garlic paste- 1 Tbsp
• Carom Seeds/Ajwain- 1 Tsp  
• Turmeric Powder/Haldi- ½ Tsp
• Black Pepper Powder/Kali Mirch Powder- ½ Tsp 
• Cumin Seeds Powder/Jeera Powder- 1 Tsp
• Coriander Powder/Dhania Powder- 1 Tsp
• Chaat Masala- 1 Tsp
• Garam Masala Powder or Tandoori Masala- 1 Tsp 
• Dry Mango Powder/Amchur Powder- 1.5 Tsp
• Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 2 Tsp 
• Lime Juice- 1 Tsp 
• Regular Salt or Rock Salt- ¾ Tsp or  add as required 
• Oil - 2 to 3 Tbsp or as required for brushing

Method

Preparing the veggies and paneer:

Slice the paneer into half inch squares or cubes.

Dice the bell peppers/capsicum,tomatoes(remove the seeds from the tomatoes) into squares.

Halve the onions and separate each layer one by one.

Keep the veggies and paneer aside.


Preparation of the marinade:

In a large bowl, whisk the thick yoghurt till smooth.

Add all the spices,lime juice and salt, except oil.

Stir and mix well. Taste the marinade and add salt it required.

Add the diced vegetables (onion, tomato and capsicum) along with paneer slices to the marinade and toss them with your hands, mix gently , so that the marinade coats the paneer and veggies evenly.

Cover the bowl and keep the marinade until you use it.

Brush 1 tablespoon oil on a tawa or a griddle.

Skewer the paneer, veggies and grill them until the edges brown.

You can brush them with extra marinade on the tawa and also brush them with oil so they dont stick at the bottom and turn golden brown.

Each side starts to get browned, gently lift and turn over. the paneer cubes get grilled faster than the veggies.

Sprinkle some chaat masala & lemon juice on the paneer tikka.

Serve the paneer tikka's with the crunchy veteables hot with mint yoghurt chutney and vinaigrette onion salad .


A Few Tips

• You can use a variety of vegetables like Cauliflower,Broccoli,Baby Potatoes,Mushrooms,Corn Cob, Zuccini etc.

• Use a non stick pan or a well greased tawa or griddle. Tawas on which dosas are prepared also work well.

• If your using homemade yoghurt, then ensure that the curd is thick. there shouldn't be much whey in it. 

• In case there is whey left, then strain the yoghurt through a cheesecloth for a few hours until the whey drains out, this is your thick yoghurt.

• You can use a Tandoor to grill your veggies, just dip a small waste cloth in petrol/kerosene and keep it in the tandoor surrounded with charcoal and carefully light the cloth and after a few minutes start fanning to create fire. This authentic grill gives an amazing smoky flavour to any tikka, kebabs etc.

• You can char grill to brown the veggies more but remember to take off the paneer cubes as soon as they brown. If you want you can fry the paneer cubes first and then the vegetables.

• I used wooden skewers, you can make mini tikka's by using toothpicks, if you so not find long wooden skewers.

• You can also use aluminium skewers which are normally used in charcoal grills.

• We recently had a charcoal grill session, where we used a grill which my late grandmother used to use in the earlier days. This is a priced possession for us,passed on for generations and finally we got to use it too..Grandma is surely going to be very happy..

• We even roasted Khichia's (Rajasthani version of thick papad), regular papad, lehsun(garlic) papad and many more..These were divine and tasted so good.

Do try this and leave me a comment!!