Yields: 6 Servings Difficulty: Difficult Prep Time: 1 Hr Cook Time: 30 Mins Total Time: 1 Hr 30 Mins
Tikka Masala is a most wanted food for many westerners. Go to any restaurant in the US, you are sure to find Chicken Tikka Masala.. Wait!! Wait!! I am not here to share the chicken Tikka masala recipe here. I am a strict vegetarian and have no ideas about how the chicken looks like… Gweekk, except having seen them in the supermarkets.
I have a friend here, who had an alliance with tikka masala and a bowl of simple basmati rice when she goes around looking for Indian food. She amazingly says that she had tried this combo in many places and they have always been a thumbs up for her.. ( Lucky her to get good Indian food here).
Over to the stories now, I have tried this western favorite tikka masala with my favorite paneer(Cottage cheese). Who does not likes these calorie-rich, yet scrumptious yummies? The original version is to marinate them and cook them in a tandoori oven. I have used a pan to grill these paneer cubes before adding them to the masala. Do try this and enjoy with anything from rotis to rice to bread.
Ingredients
Adjust Servings
- Main Ingredients
- Marinade Ingredients
- Tikka Masala Ingredients
Instructions
- Marinating the Paneer
- If you are using homemade yogurt, drain them on to a muslin cloth and hang them to drain off water content in it. After about 30 mins, you can find a thick cheese-like curd collected in the muslin cloth. This is hung curd.
- In a bowl add the hung curd, G&G paste, red chili powder, turmeric, coriander, and garam masala powder. Sprinkle salt and mix them thoroughly. Add Paneer cubes to it for marination and set them aside for about 30 mins minimum to even overnight in the refrigerator.
- I marinated for about an hour. After this, heat a dosa pan and drizzle oil all over. Gently place each of the marinated cubes to the Tawa. Flip over after 2 mins and cook until done. Set aside. Preparing the Tikka Masala gravy
- Fine chop onions and tomatoes. Heat a pan and add oil to it. Once they shimmer, add jeera seeds, followed by onions. Saute them until they turn pink. Add a spoon of ginger-garlic paste, until the raw smell goes off.
- Add tomatoes to it and saute till they are cooked. Add the tomato puree to it and keep stirring. To this gravy add all the masala powders – Coriander, Red chili, Garam Masala powder, and a cup of water.
- Keep the flame low and cook for about 6 mins until the oil is separated from it. Add salt to it and mix. Transfer the grilled paneer cubes to it and combine them together.
- Add a tsp of cream to it and mix them. Switch off the flame. Rub a pinch of kasoori methi between the palms and add them to the tikka masala. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with phulka or rice.
Notes
- Marinating the paneer with hung curd is an important one for this dish. If you are not patient enough in making hung curd, replace them with sour cream, and do the marination.
- Adding kasoori methi is necessary. It renders a unique flavor to this dish.
- Instead of using a Tawa to grill, you can also arrange the paneer on to skewers, and place them in the oven on grill mode.