Paneer tikka masala | How to make paneer tikka masala

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Paneer tikka masala | How to make restaurant style paneer tikka masala 

Paneer tikka masala in the most popular and spicy paneer recipes and highly served recipe in Restaurants and Dhaba’s. The rich and creamy north Indian curry is prepared with grilled & marinated paneer/ cottage cheese cubes. The gravy is spicy and creamy in texture made from onion tomato paste and cashew paste to balance the spice and tanginess from tomato.

The flavours, aroma and taste of this recipe are completely different from any other paneer recipes as the paneer cubes are first marinated with curd and dry spices and then grilled and added in the curry. In restaurants and Dhaba’s, the marinated paneer cubes are grilled in a tandoor oven (clay oven) which imparts a nice smoky flavour. Since we do not have tandoor oven at home, we can grill or broil them in an oven or can be pan/ griddle fried.

The recipe of paneer tikka masala is inherited from chicken tikka masala. Also, the most famous Indian recipe all over the world is Chicken tikka masala. This recipe is loved by both veg and non-veg lovers. This tikka recipe is very versatile and can be cooked in numerous ways by adjusting the spice level and with variations of ingredients.

How to make paneer tikka masala:

Paneer tikka masala is a lengthy recipe and little time-consuming. To save yourself some time, you can do the marination process a night before and keep it in the refrigerator. Now, let me tell you the two parts to make this recipe – first, you have to make paneer tikkas and the other part is making the curry.

For making paneer tikka – paneer cubes or cottage cheese cubes are marinated with hung curd and other dry spices. Marination process should not be less than 1 hour. You can also marinate them a night before and place it in a refrigerator. Later, these marinated cubes are either grilled in an oven or shallow fried on a skillet or griddle tawa till it turns crisp and golden in colour.

For making masala gravy for paneer tikka – the onions and tomatoes are cooked till they turn soft and mushy and then ground in a paste. You can even puree onions and tomatoes without cooking. it can be done in either way, without compromising with the taste of masala.

Finally, the grilled paneer pieces are added to the masala and served hot with butter naan or jeera rice or any other Indian flatbreads.

Furthermore, let me share a few tips and suggestions to get a perfect taste.

• I would recommend using fresh and homemade paneer for making any paneer gravy or dry recipes, but you can also use store-bought fresh paneer.
• Secondly, use fresh and thick hung curd as it will enhance the taste of the gravy. Do not use stale and sour curd.
• Also, while marinating you can either keep at room temperature or refrigerate it. I prefer it to refrigerate for at least 2 hours to get better results.
• Lastly, use red ripe and sweet tomatoes. Do not use tomatoes that are too tangy.

Now let’s see how to make this delicious paneer tikka masala recipe.

Paneer tikka masala Recipe Card

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5 from 2 votes

Paneer tikka masala

Paneer tikka masala is the rich curry prepared with grilled & marinated paneer cubes in onion tomato gravy.

Prep Time15 mins

Active Time35 mins

Marination time2 hrs

Total Time50 mins

Course: Curries, Main Course

Cuisine: North Indian, punjabi

Keyword: Paneer recipes, Paneer tikka masala recipe

Yield: 4

Calories: 397kcal

Materials

• 225 gms Paneer or cottage cheese cut in cubes
• 1 medium Onion Cut in quarters and petals separated
• 1 Capsicum or bell peppers cut in cubes

For marinating paneer tikka:

• ½ cup Fresh curd/ yoghurt/ dahi thick or hung curd or full-fat curd
• 1-inch Ginger grated
• 1 tsp Garlic cloves grated
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder/ lal mirch powder
• ¼ tsp Haldi/ Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Dhaniya powder/ Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• ½ tsp Salt or as required
• 1 tsp Oil
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• Oil for roasting

For making puree:

• 2 medium Tomatoes sliced red and ripe tomatoes
• 2 medium Onions sliced
• 3 Green Chillies
• 12 - 15 Cashew nuts soaked and ground

For making paneer tikka masala gravy:

• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 or 2 Bay leafs
• 2 to 3 Green cardamom pods slightly crushed
• ½-inch Cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste grated or crushed in mortar-pestle
• ¼ tsp Haldi/ Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Dhaniya powder/ Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• Salt per taste
• 1 tbsp Kasuri methi/ Dried fenugreek leaves crushed
• 2 to 3 tbsp Fresh coriander leaves finely chopped for garnishing

Instructions

For marinating paneer cubes:

• In a large mixing bowl, add fresh thick curd and whisk till it is smooth.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri red chilli powder, haldi, coriander powder, garam masala and salt.
• Add 1 tbsp lemon juice.
• Add 1 tsp oil and mix it nicely until it turns creamy.
• Now, add paneer cubes, red bell peppers and onion petals.
• Gently mix all the ingredients to form a uniform coating over paneer cubes, bell peppers and onion petals. Mix gently without breaking paneer.
• Cover and keep it in a refrigerator to marinate for a minimum of 1.5 to 2 hours or overnight.
• Meanwhile, soak the cashews in the hot water for about 15 to 20 mins.

Roasting marinated paneer cubes, bell peppers and onions on stove top:

• Heat a tbsp of oil on tawa and grease the tawa surface with the help of a brush.
• Place the marinated paneer cubes, bell peppers and onion petals on the tawa and roast on low-medium flame until it turns golden brown in colour.
• Flip the paneer cubes when it is browned from one side and roast it from all the sides while rotating it until it turns crisp and browned from all the sides.
• Keep the roasted paneer cubes, bell peppers and onion petals aside.

For making tomato puree for paneer tikka masala gravy:

• Slice the onions, tomatoes and green chillies and put it in the grinder jar. Grind it into a smooth paste and keep aside.
• Similarly, grind the cashews in the mixer jar until a smooth paste.

For making paneer tikka masala curry:

• Heat 2 tbsp oil or butter or ghee in the wide thick bottom kadhai and add bay leaves, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks and saute for few seconds.
• Then, add grated ginger and garlic cloves and saute for a minute till the raw smell of garlic goes off. 
• Then add tomato-onion puree in the kadhai and mix it nicely. Also, add the leftover marinade mixture of curd and spices.
• Cover and cook the tomato puree till it is cooked perfectly and oil starts separating from the sides of the pan. 
• When the mixture thickens add the cashew paste along with all the dry spices - haldi, Kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt.
• Mix all the ingredients nicely till the nice aroma appears and oil is released from the masala.
• Now, add roasted paneer cubes, bell peppers and onion petals in the kadhai and around 1 cup of water and mix gently without breaking the paneer pieces. Adjust the consistency of gravy by adding more water as required.
• Cover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes till the flavours and aroma are absorbed nicely in paneer.
• Lastly, add crushed kasuri methi and finely chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
• Serve, delicious Paneer tikka masala with butter naan or jeera rice.

Step by step Instructions

Important tips for making paneer tikka masala:

1. You can grill the paneer tikkas in the oven or in tandoor as well. You can even pan fry them and use the same pan for making gravy.
2. You can also add store-bought tandoori masala or easily available paneer tikka masala and use them to make more flavourful curry.
3. Most importantly, you can add smoky flavour to the dish by doing Dungar for gravy. Just burn a small piece of charcoal until it emits smoke and place it in a small bowl or Katori and put the Katori in the centre of the kadhai over the curry. Then, pour a tbsp or 2 of ghee over the charcoal and close the lid of the kadhai. 
4. This gives a very beautiful smoky essence to the dish as we get in Dhabas.
5. To get a more rich and creamy texture, you can also add fresh cream while serving.
6. Typically, any paneer recipes taste better when accompanied with sliced raw onions and lemon wedges. 
7. Finally, Paneer tikka masala tastes delicious when cooked little spicy and served hot with butter naan, garlic butter naan, jeera rice or even tandoori roti. 

Finally, I would like to share my other veg Curry recipes from my blog. This includes Dum aloo recipe, Paneer kadhai recipe, Mushroom kadhai gravy recipe, Matar Jhol recipe, spicy misal pav recipe, matar ke chole recipe, etc. Also, go through our Indian bread section for a variety of rotis like Butter naan recipe, palak paratha recipe, kachori recipes and thalipeeth recipe. In addition to this, do visit my other recipes collection from my blog like Main course collection, Breakfast collection, Desserts collection, etc.

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