Paneer Tikka Masala Restaurant Style
Paneer Tikka Masala is one of the most loved paneer recipe in India. This is a rich and delicious dish. Since North India is famous for rich dishes, it’s more loved in North India. It’s one of my best dish till date.
Paneer or Cottage cheese has very special place in Indian vegetarian cooking. This is a versatile dairy product. It tastes great in any form. You can use them for preparing appetizers, main course or even in desserts.
Normally I make paneer at home for any such dishes. But for this recipe I have used store brought paneer. In fact one of our friend had started a dairy firm and these paneer were sample ones. Well, quality of paneer also matters in preparation of any such dishes. When paneer is fresh, it makes the dish more scrumptious.
What is paneer tikka masala made of?
Paneer tikka masala is made by marinating paneer cubes and shallow frying them before adding to curry gravy. Marinated paneer cubes can be grilled for this recipe. This dish is a perfect combination of spicy and creamy gravy with sauteed paneer and crunchy veggies.
Paneer cubes and crunchy veggies like bell peppers, onions and tomato cubes are marinated in a mixture of curd and spices such as:
hung curd + gram flour + coriander powder + cumin powder + turmeric powder + red chilli powder + garam masala + chat masala + ginger garlic paste + salt + lemon juice
Also read how to make paneer at home in 15 minutes if you wish to make fresh and soft paneer at home for this Paneer Tikka Masala.
Vegan Paneer Tikka Masala
If you are vegan, replace the paneer with tofu which are available in any super market. Tofu is made from soy milk and this is even healthier option and rich source of protein. Instead of paneer or even tofu, you can make theses tikka masala with cauliflower as well. Also use vegan curd for marination process.
So try this cauliflower tikka masala with same recipe and do share your feedback in comment box. I will also make and share my version of Vegan Cauliflower Tikka Masala soon.
Best combination with Paneer Tikka Masala
Paneer tikka masala is a curry base dish for main course. Paneer tikka makes an excellent appetizer for parties and special occasions. Paneer tikka masala goes best with tandoori roti. This will give you full satisfaction of restaurant style food.
In case you don’t have tandoor, then also you can make them on stove top on direct flame. Apply ghee or butter on home made tandoori roti and serve them with this rich spicy paneer tikka masala. What a heavenly combination!! I ll share my tandoori roti on tawa soon.
How to make restaurant style paneer tikka masala
For me the magic was best quality of paneer and proper marination in blend of spices is most essential part of making tikka or tikka masala. For best result, you need to marinate paneer and veggies cubes in marination mixture (curd & spices) for more than 30 – 40 minutes. So this is not a quick recipe. You need to plan before you start. Adding gram flour helps in proper shallow frying process. else it will stick to the pan. Use non stick pan for making tikka if you are pan frying them.
You can grill them or use microwave to make tikka. Another method you can put them in skewers for tikka. I shallow fried in pan so i have not used skewers.
Also read other North Indian food like matar paneer, kashifal sabzi, dum aloo, rajma masala, dal makhani, malai kofta, Palak Paneer Kofta. If you are looking for party appetizers, then read our veg seekh kabab, paneer corn seekh kabab, veg shammi kabab, potato lollipop, hara bhara kabab, crunchy falafel.
Paneer Tikka Masala | Restaurant Style
Ingredients
Preparing Paneer Tikka
- 250 gms Paneer Cubes
- 150 gms Hung Curd (Thick)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1/2 tsp Chat Masala
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp Besan/ Gram flour
- 1 large bell pepper cut into cubes
- 1 large Onion cut into cubes
- 1 large Tomato cut into cubes & seed less
- 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
Preparation of Gravy and Presentation
- 2 large Onion
- 4 large Tomato
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 10 - 12 cashew nuts
- 2 Green Chilli
- 1 tsp Kasuri Methi Dry roasted
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Refined Oil
- 1 tbsp Ghee
Instructions
Preparing Tikka
- Take a large mixing bowl. Add curd, gram flour and all dry spices mentioned in ingredients list above under paneer tikka section.
- Dip the paneer cubes, capsicum & onion pieces in marination mix. mix them well lightly with help of a spoon or with hands. Keep it aside for minimum 30 minutes so that they will get nice flavor of spice mix.
- After 30 minutes, Heat a non stick pan. Put few drops of oil. once oil is hot, put pieces of paneer, bell peppers, onions on pan and saute on all sides with help of tong.
- Remove from heat and keep aside.
Preparation of Gravy
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan or kadhai. Add finely chopped onion and ginger garlic paste. Saute till onion is translucent. Add 2 green chilli slits.
- Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and mix well. this will bring rich red color in gravy.
- In the meanwhile make a paste of tomatoes, garlic pods and soaked cashew nuts.
- Add tomato puree to the pan and mix well. cook for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water if the gravy becomes thick. Don't add more water as we want this gravy to be medium thick. Pour in rest of the marination mix to the gravy and mix well.
- Let it simmer for 4 - 5 minutes. Add crushed roasted kasuri methi and finely chopped coriander leaves. mix well.
- Add all sauteed vegetables and paneer cubes to the gravy. mix with light hand
- Cook for 2 minutes on low flame. Turn off gas when desired consistency achieved.
- Serve hot with roti, paratha or rice.
The paneer tikka masala looks lip smacking…will give this a try…
Thank you dear 🙂
Beautiful recipe and great step-by-step illustration. I must try this one!
thank u :).
Wow to the palette accompanied by great looking photos that are so inviting…would definitely try this out
Thank u so much dear.