Hariyali Paneer Tikka

Hariyali paneer tikka made using a spicy dhania and pudina chutney (cilantro and mint leaves marinade) is the perfect vegetarian appetizer for your spring or summer parties. The cheese just melts in your mouth and the onions and green peppers give that perfect crunch and bite. This pudina paneer tikka recipe can be made in a frypan, oven, or grill. You choose the method!

Fresh paneer cubes wrapped in a tangy chutney and grilled or pan-fried until it gets that lovely char...mmm! This hariyali paneer tikka is a gem of a recipe that can hold its own with aplomb amid all the chicken and meat tikka/kebabs clamouring for attention.

This recipe turns out great no matter how you cook it - in a hot oven, an outdoor grill, or even in your trusty frying pan or tawa!

Before we move on to the ingredients, I do feel compelled to share two more paneer appetizers on the blog: paneer kebabs and paneer fingers. If you love paneer, check these out.

So, without further ado, let's have a look at what goes into this hariyali paneer tikka.

🥘 Ingredients

Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.

Ingredient Notes

Note: Most of these ingredients are available in Indian and Pakistani groceries or even in some hypermarkets like Walmart or Real Canadian Superstore.

• Paneer or Indian cottage cheese - If you are using a store-bought paneer block, soak it in hot water for 15 minutes after removing the packaging. It will become softer and whiter. You can also easily make your own paneer with just two ingredients! Here's the recipe for making homemade paneer if you're interested.

• Mustard oil makes the paneer even softer and also adds flavour to the tikka. Just a tablespoon is enough in this recipe. However, you must smoke it first before using it so that the rawness and pungency goes away. See the prep steps below on how to do this.

• Chaat masala and garam masala - spice blends that add lots of flavor to the paneer tikka.

• I used some unflavored Greek yogurt in this recipe as it is quite thick. If you want to use regular yogurt, drain it first so that it loses most of its liquid. Hang it in a cheesecloth for a couple of hours so that the thick solids are left behind. That said, it's easier to use Greek yogurt!

• Besan or chickpea flour is used to make the marinade thick so that it sticks to the paneer cubes. You will need to roast it first before you add it to the marinade. Take a look at the prep steps to see how to do this.

🔪 Instructions

Time needed: 45 minutes

How to make hariyali paneer tikka

Preparation

1. Smoke the mustard oil

• Measure one tablespoon oil in a small frypan and heat it until the oil stars smoking. As it smokes, it will also change colour and become a lighter shade of yellow.
• Take it off the heat and allow it to cool down before you add it to the other ingredients. This process takes all of 3 minutes.

2. Soak the paneer

• Put the paneer block in hot water for 15 minutes.
• Discard the water and cut the paneer into small cubes.
• Note that if you are using homemade paneer, there's no need to soak it.

3. Roast the besan or chickpea flour

• Take a tablespoon of the chickpea flour in a small frypan and dry roast it on medium heat until it becomes fragrant and turns light brown in color. There's no need to add any oil.

4. Cut the onions and green pepper

• Cut the onions into quarters, then separate the petals.
• Cut the green pepper into small cubes.

5. Soak the wooden skewers in water for 15 minutes

• This will prevent them from burning when you grill them. Needless to say, you can skip this step if using metal skewers

Make the marinade

• Put the cilantro and mint leaves in a blender. Add the yogurt, ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Blend until you get a thick chutney.
• Add the smoked mustard oil, roasted chickpea flour, lemon juice, garam masala, chaat masala, and salt. Whisk to get a smooth marinade.

Marinate

• Toss the paneer cubes, onion and green pepper in the marinade, and using a spoon or your hands, make sure that all the pieces are well-coated with the marinade.
• At this point, it is your choice whether you want to keep this marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours or proceed to the next step. Frankly speaking, I just go ahead with the rest of the recipe if I'm in a hurry.

Prepare the skewers

• Thread the paneer, onion, and green pepper cubes on the wooden skewers and brush a little oil on them.

Cook the skewers

• If using an oven to cook them, grease a baking tray and place the skewers on the tray, a little apart from each other. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-12 minutes. If you want a char, switch to the broil setting on your oven (high) and allow the skewers to remain in the oven for 2-3 minutes more. As soon as you see the edges charring, remove the tray from the oven and serve hot.
• If pan-frying the skewers, heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a frypan and place the skewers in the hot oil. As one side gets browned, turn the skewers so that the other side also gets browned. Do this until all the sides are cooked.
• You can also use an outdoor grill to cook the skewers. Brush them with cooking oil and place them directly on a hot grill for 2-3 minutes. Flip and repeat.

💭 Top tips

• I recommend using mustard oil in this recipe as it really does make a difference. The paneer tastes better somehow and the texture becomes softer.
• While cooking the tikkas, don't cook the paneer low and slow for a long time, especially when pan-frying. Cooking paneer for very long dries it out and makes it hard. The heat has to be medium-high so that the cheese gets charred quickly.
• I used green peppers in this recipe, but go ahead and make your skewers more colorful by using different coloured peppers, and even tomatoes if you want to.