Paneer Tikka Mashala Gravy

For those who don’t know what ‘Tikka’is , tikka is a small chunk of grilled food coated with spices.

Paneer tikka mashala is one of the most popular indian dish in whole India as well as worldwide.It is a dish ,full of flavour , rich creamy structure, with speiced gravy.

There are too many way of making it, here I am sharing my way of cooking which is simple,easy to cook and healthy offcourse.

Here in this recipe I am trying to use as many less quantity of oil/ ghee.

So guys this is a must try recipe. I bet you gonna love this one. Please do try and let me know your thoughts about the recipe.

Category:  Main course

Cuisine:    North Indian

Prep Time:  30  minutes

Cook Time:  20 minutes

Serves:   3-4

Ingredients

·       250 grams paneer (cottage cheese) - cut into cubes

·       2 tablespoons curd 

·       2 tablespoon besan (gram flour)

·       2 medium size tometo (paste) / tometo puree

·       3 tablespoon ghee

·       1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

·       1 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder or as per your taste

·       ½ teaspoon garam masala powder

·       ½  teaspoon turmeric powder

·       2 teaspoon coriander powder

·       ½ tablespoon Jeera (cumin seeds)

·       ½ pinch Asafoetida

·       1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)

·       salt or as required

·       chopped coriander leaves 2-3 tablespoon

·       1 tablespoon Butter (optional)

How to Make

Making paneer tikka

§  Take a large bowl and whisk the curd, add 1 tablespoon besan or gram flour, whisk again untill smooth mixture comes out.

§  Add ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder , ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder and also add ½ tablespoon salt to  the mixture. Mixed it well.

§  Add the paneer cubes

§  Gently mix again so that the marination coats the paneer

§  Cover the bowl & keep it into refrigerator for a minimum of 20 minutes.

§  After 20 minutes, the tikke is set and ready to fry. To fry the paneer tikkas, put 1 teaspoons of ghee in a non-stick pan and keep it hot on the gas.

§  Keep paneer tikka in the pan one by one and let it cook till it turns golden brown from the bottom.

§ 
Turn the tikkas one by one as soon as they become golden brown from the bottom and allow them to roast till they turn golden brown from other side too.

§  After a while, when the tikkas are ready to be golden brown on both sides. Turn off the gas.

§  You can also grill them in oven instated of frying.In such case Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 10 minutes before grill. Grill the paneer cubes  in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 to 25 minutes.

§  For a microwave oven in the convection mode, use 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).

Making Mashala Gravy

§  In a pan, heat 1 ½ tbsp ghee and then add cumin seeds and fry. As soon as the cumin seeds crackle, add asafetida, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, rest coriander powder, kasoori methi. Fry the spices lightly on low heat untill a nice aroma comes out.

§  Then add the onion paste, and stir it and saute till the onions paste turns golden.

§  Add ginger garlic paste into the pan and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.

§  Add tomato paste and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Now fry the tomatoes till the oil separates from the spices.

§  As long as the masala is cooked well, put ½  teaspoon of ghee in an another small pan and heat it, add 1 table spoon gram flour in hot ghee and fry it till it changes color of gram flour.

§  Put the roasted gram flour in the gravy and let the masala roast slightly.

§  After few time , when the ghee starts separating from the spices, the masala will be roasted and ready.

§  After this, add a little less than 1/2 cup of water and mix, add 1/2 tsp salt,  garam masala and green coriander to the gravy and mix all the ingredients well.

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

§  Then add the grilled or pan-fried paneer and cubes. Stir again and switch off the flame.

§  Garnish with coriander leaves and butter (optional) & serve Paneer Tikka Masala with naan, roti or jeera rice.