These tandoori paneer tikka kebabs are soft bite-sized pieces of paneer cheese that have been marinated in a spiced yogurt, skewered with fresh veggies, and broiled in the oven for a delicious appetizer!
What is paneer tikka?
Panner tikka or tandoori paneer tikka is made from an Indian style of hard cheese named paneer. It is cut into small pieces that are marinated in a spiced yogurt and cooked, typically in a tandoor oven, at high temperatures, leaving a charred, smoky, and barbecued taste. The paneer tastes delicious as an appetizer served alongside an herbaceous and spicy cilantro-mint chutney or can serve as the main course paired with rice or naan.
Why this recipe works
- Soaking the paneer in hot and salty water helps the paneer get soft and moist while seasoning it within!
- Using the dhungar method to trap the smoke in the marinated paneer helps it have have a smoky taste and aroma.
- Crafting aluminum foil rods at the ends of the baking sheet keeps the skewers elevated, allowing the paneer to char instead of steam and prevents the marinade from sticking to the pan.
- Broiling the paneer at the end allows the pieces to get a nice char similar to cooking in a tandoor.
Tandoori Spice Blend
My recipe uses a homemade blend of tandoori spices to get my perfect balance of heat and tang for the tandoori paneer. Here are the ingredients in my spice blend and what they bring to the final dish:
- Kashmiri chili powder - Adds heat, smokiness, AND color to the dish. You can use ½ the amount of another chili powder but the resulting color may not be as vibrant.
- Garam masala - Adds warming and nutty flavors of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.
- Black salt (Kala namak) - Adds a tangy and tart flavor.
- Turmeric powder - Adds earthiness.
- Cumin powder - Adds nuttiness and warmth.
- Asafetida - Mimics the taste of onion/garlic and is quite pungent.
- Sea salt - Helps season the chicken and brings out the flavor of the other spices.
- Sugar - Helps balance the heat in the dish.
- Dried methi leaves - Adds a bitterness and earthiness to the chicken.
- Fresh mint leaves - Adds freshness and herbaceousness. You can use dried mint leaves in this recipe too.
The exact quantities of each of these spices are listed down below. However, if you don't have time to gather these ingredients, you can alternatively go to an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store and buy Tandoori Masala, which is essentially a blend of these spices, to use instead.
Buy Now → Ginger garlic paste
This recipe has you blend a big piece of fresh ginger and garlic with the other ingredients to create a paste. In my opinion, this yields the freshest and cleanest taste of ginger and garlic in a recipe and helps you control exactly how much of each ingredient you are adding to the recipe.
However, if you don't have a blender or if you are strapped on time, you can easily buy pre-processed ginger garlic paste from the Indian grocery store. You want ~1.5 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste for 1 inch (8 grams) of ginger and 3 cloves (13 grams) of garlic.
Buy Now → 
Tandoori Marinade
The tandoori marinade for this recipe is just a mix of ginger garlic paste, the tandoori spice blend, yogurt, and lemon juice! The yogurt is key to this recipe because it creates a paste that is thick, clings onto the paneer, and adds a tangy flavor to the final dish.
Dhungar method to get smoky flavor
The dhungar method is a way of adding a smoky flavor to the final dish. It involves burning a piece of charcoal directly over a flame until it is fiery red and forms a light gray exterior, placing the coal in a small bowl, and pouring a bit of ghee on top of the coal to make it smoke.
For our tandoori paneer tikka kebabs, the marinated paneer will be place in a wide bowl that can be closed with a lid or foil. The hot smoking coal will be placed in the center of the bowl and closed so that the smoke can be trapped with the paneer. As a result, the paneer will have a smoky aroma and taste that is reminiscent of cooking the paneer in a charcoal tandoor.
Tips for making paneer tikka in the oven
- Soften and season the paneer by soaking it in warm salted water for 30 minutes.
- Allow the paneer to marinate in the yogurt marinade overnight for a paneer that is seasoned throughout.
- Make sure that the paneer kebabs hover in the center of the sheet tray. Either use a sheet tray that is small enough for the end of the skewers to hang off OR create aluminum foil rods on either end of the sheet tray for the skewers to rest on so that the paneer pieces can hover over the sheet tray instead of rest directly on it. This is one of the biggest tips which helps the paneer cook evenly and helps the marinade not stick to the pan.
- Baste the paneer with ghee or oil to ensure that the exterior chars nicely.
- Place paneer on the top rack of the oven at 450F for a high heat cook. During this whole process we want to mimic the high heat of a tandoor, so placing it on the top allows the paneer to get the most heat and the best char.
- Take the paneer out at the halfway point and rotate to ensure every side gets cooked evenly.
- Serve the paneer right away to experience soft paneer. Cold paneer will harden.
FAQ
Yes. The main thing that thing that needs blending is the ginger and garlic into a paste. If you don't have a blender, you can either make the ginger garlic paste with a mortar and pestle or get store-bought ginger garlic paste from the Indian grocery store.
Yes, you can use wooden skewers as long as you have soaked them in water for at least 1 hour and up to overnight to ensure that they don't burn in the oven.
No, using the charcoal to get a smoky flavor is an optional step, but a step that adds a great bit of depth to the recipe.
Yes, you can substitute the dry spices listed as tandoori masala in the recipe with store-bought tandoori masala.
Make sure to soak the paneer in warm water (150 F) to help it soften and become moist!
Related Recipes
Looking for other kebab recipes like this? Try these:
Tandoori Paneer Tikka Kebabs
Ingredients
- ¾ lb (12 oz) paneer
- 1 red onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 inch (8 g) piece of ginger (Note 1)
- 3 (13 g) garlic cloves (Note 1)
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Tandoori Spice Blend (Note 2)
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon kala namak (black salt) plus more to sprinkle on top
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried methi leaves
- ⅛ teaspoon asafetida
- 10-15 (2 g) fresh mint leaves
Other Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ghee melted butter or vegetable oil for basting and smoking chicken
- Optional charcoal (for adding an extra smoky finish at the end)
- cilantro-mint chutney as a dipping sauce
- lemon rice for serving (Optional)
Instructions
Prep work
- Cut ¾ lb (12 oz) paneer into 1 inch cubes. Then cut those cubes in diagonally in half to create triangles.
- Take a large bowl, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 cups of hot water (150F) and mix. Add cut paneer into the bowl. If there is not enough water to submerge the paneer, add more water. This step helps the paneer stay moist and absorb some salt to help season it within. Allow the paneer to soak in the water for 15 minutes or while you finish the other prep tasks.
- If using wooden skewers, let them soak in a shallow tray of water. This step is to ensure that they don't burn in the oven.
- Cut 1 red onion into petals: Cut the onion in half and remove the skin and root of the onion. Place each half flat side down and cut vertically down the middle. Now release each layer of the onion to get thin petals of onions that can be skewered. Set aside until ready to cook.
- Cut 1 green bell pepper: Cut ½ inch off the top of the bell pepper and cut ¼ inch off the bottom of the pepper. Now cut a slit through the side of the pepper so it can be laid down flat. Use your knife to remove the seeds and white membrane in the inside of the pepper. Cut the pepper horizontally down the middle and create 1 inch wide peppers similar to the size of the onion petals. Set aside until ready to cook.
- Tear the leaves off of the 10-15 (2 g) fresh mint leaves and discard the tough stems.
Make the marinade
- Make the tandoori spice blend (skip this step if using store-bought tandoori spice blend - Note 2): In a small bowl mix 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder, ¾ teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon kala namak (black salt), ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon cumin powder, ¼ teaspoon dried methi leaves, and ⅛ teaspoon asafetida.
- Roughly chop 1 inch (8 g) piece of ginger so it can be easily processed by the food processor. (Skip if you are using storebought ginger garlic - Note 1)
- Add the ginger, 3 (13 g) garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons (25 g) Greek yogurt, and 2 teaspoons lemon juice to a small food processor or blender and blend until a smooth paste. It is important that the ginger pieces are fully incorporated and that there aren’t any chunks remaining.
Dhungar Method to add smoky flavor (Optional)
- Drain the water from the paneer and pat with a paper towel to ensure that the paneer is dry.
- Pour marinade into the bowl with the paneer and massage to coat.
- Tear a piece of aluminum foil large enough to tent the bowl of paneer. This is what is going to trap the charcoal smoky taste within the bowl.
- Take 1 piece of charcoal and place it directly on the stovetop using tongs. Allow the charcoal to light and burn a bright orange. The charcoal should be hot enough that the exterior also has started to turn gray.
- Using tongs, transfer the piece of charcoal into a small heat-safe bowl.
- Pour ~1 tablespoon of ghee or vegetable oil directly over the charcoal so that the charcoal starts smoking.
- Quickly and carefully place the smoking charcoal bowl in the bowl with paneer and loosely cover with aluminum foil or a lid. Allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the marinade to absorb the charcoal smell and flavor.
- Remove the foil and remove the small charcoal bowl.
- Add paneer into the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
Cook tikka kebabs in the oven
- Preheat the oven to the convection bake setting at 425F or a regular bake setting at 450F.
- Thread an onion petal, followed by marinated paneer, and then bell pepper onto the skewers. Repeat this pattern two more times, making sure to leave at least 1 inch both at the bottom and top of the skewer.
- Line the bottom of the sheet tray with aluminum foil to make cleanup of the meat juices easier.
- Use aluminum foil, form it into the shape of two rods. and place each rod along the width of the sheet pan. The rods are where the skewer tops and bottoms will rest, ensuring the paneer can hover in the middle. This technique is really important as it gives the paneer air circulation and ensures that the marinade doesn't stick to the bottom of the sheet tray.
- Melt 2 tablespoons ghee. Brush the top of the paneer liberally with the melted ghee.
- Place the paneer in the top rack of the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, rotate the paneer, baste with some more ghee, and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
- Take the paneer out of the oven and check to see if the masala looks a bit matte, indicating that it has cooked through.
- Give the paneer one more basting of ghee and turn on the broil setting of the oven to high. Keep an eye on the paneer and allow the paneer to char and form black spots, which should take ~1-3 minutes but can really vary depending on the strength of the broiler, so keep an eye out.
- Remove paneer from the oven. You can optionally sprinkle some more black salt to finish. Serve with cilantro mint chutney on the side and lemon rice or naan to accompany the dish.
Notes and Tips
- (Note 1) I personally prefer the fresh taste of ginger and garlic; however, if you don't have a blender/food processor, you can opt to substitute 1.5 tablespoons of ginger/garlic paste instead of making it for this recipe. The rest of the ingredients can just be mixed and the mint can be finely chopped.
- (Note 2) - Instead of buying the tandoori dry spices individually, you can optionally get a store-bought tandoori seasoning at your local Indian store or online to replace the dry seasonings.
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