Restaurant Style Paneer Tikka Masala

Paneer Tikka Masala is one of the most loved paneer recipes in India. This is a rich and delicious Indian cottage cheese (paneer) curry recipe. It's easy to make and loaded with flavors.

Paneer or Cottage cheese has a very special place in Indian vegetarian cooking. This is a versatile dairy product used in many ways in our diet. It tastes great in any meal or recipe you add them to. You can use them to prepare appetizers, main courses, or desserts. 

Usually, I make paneer at home for any such dishes.

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 perfectly combines spicy and creamy curry sauce, 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

Check out my paneer tikka recipe for more details.

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. Tofu is made from soy milk, an even healthier option and a rich source of protein for vegans. Instead of paneer or tofu, you can make these tikka masala with cauliflower and mushrooms. Also, vegan curd is used for the marination process of vegan tikka masala.

So try this cauliflower tikka masala with the same recipe and share your feedback in the comment box. Please check out my vegan cauliflower tikka masala and mushroom tikka masala recipes.

What to serve with paneer tikka masala?

Paneer tikka masala is a rich, creamy onion tomato curry base dish. This is best served for the main course. But you can make simply Paneer tikka as an appetizer for parties and special occasions. This goes best with tandoori roti or butter naan. This will give you satisfaction with restaurant-style food.

If you don't have a tandoor, you can also put them on the stovetop on direct flame. Apply ghee or butter on homemade tandoori roti and serve them with this rich, spicy Curry. What a heavenly combination!!

Restaurant-style paneer tikka masala

The real magic comes with the best quality of paneer and proper marination in the blend of spices, which is essential to making tikka or tikka masala. For the best result, you need to marinate paneer and veggie cubes in the marination mixture (curd & spices) for more than 30 - 40 minutes. For best results, you can marinate them for longer, but place them in the refrigerator for marination.

So, this is not a quick recipe. You need to plan before you start. Adding gram flour helps properly bind spices and shallow frying process. Else, it will stick to the pan. Use a nonstick pan to make tikka if you are pan-frying them. You may also grill them in barbeque or on a direct flame of a stovetop using skewers.

You can grill them or use a microwave to make tikka. Another method is to put them in skewers for tikka. I shallow-fried it in the pan, so I did not use skewers.

Similar Recipes

• Matar paneer
• Kashifal sabzi
• Restaurant-style dum aloo
• Rajma masala
• Dal makhani
• Malai kofta
• Palak Paneer Kofta

Paneer Tikka Masala

Paneer Tikka Masala | Restaurant Style

Ipsa Faujdar

Paneer tikka masala is a rich and creamy gravy prepared with marinated paneer cubes, and vegetable cubes.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Main Dish, Paneer Special, Sabzi & Curry

Cuisine Indian, North Indian

Servings 4 People

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Preparing Paneer Tikka

• 250 gms Paneer Cubes
• 150 gms Hung Curd (Thick)
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• ½ 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.
  
• Mix them well making a thick mixture.
  
• Dip the paneer cubes, capsicum & onion pieces in marination mix.
  
• Mix them well lightly with help of a spoon or with hands.
  
• You can also add deseeded tomato cubes to the marinade.
  
• 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 ½ 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.
  

Keyword Indian Curry

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