🥗 STARTER
Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer)
Cubes of paneer, onion and pepper coated in a yogurt marinade with chilli, garam masala and dried fenugreek, then grilled hot until charred at the edges and served with green chutney and lemon.
North Indian · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 14 min · plus 1 h hands-off time
~113 cal · 2g protein · 9g carbs · 8g fat · 1g fiber · 4g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
tikka is the vegetarian answer to the tandoor's chicken tikka, and one of the most ordered starters in North Indian restaurants and at Punjabi weddings. Tikka means pieces, and here the pieces are , the fresh, firm, unmelting cheese of the north, threaded onto skewers between squares of onion and capsicum.
The marinade does the work. Thick yogurt is loaded with ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli for colour, coriander, , chaat masala and crushed kasuri methi, dried leaves, and loosened with pungent mustard oil and lemon juice. The sits in it for an hour or more to take on the flavour.
Traditionally the skewers are lowered into a tandoor, the clay oven, which chars the edges in minutes. At home a very hot oven grill does the job. The tikka comes to the table sizzling, with green coriander and mint chutney, raw onion rings and lemon wedges.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 400 g , cut into 3 cm cubes
- 1 large red onion, cut into 3 cm squares and separated into layers
- 1 large green or red bell pepper, cut into 3 cm squares
- 2/3 cup (150 g) thick plain yogurt (hung curd or Greek yogurt)
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tbsp mustard oilHard to find? 2 tbsp neutral oil - loses the sharp, nose-tingling edge mustard oil gives
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 3/4 tsp
- 1 tsp chaat masala, plus extra to finish
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp kasuri methi (dried leaves), crushed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup green coriander and mint chutney, to serve
- as needed lemon wedges and raw onion rings, to serve
Instructions
- 1In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, mustard oil, chilli powder, ground coriander, garam masala, chaat masala, turmeric, crushed kasuri methi, salt and lemon juice to a thick, smooth marinade.
- 2Add the paneer, onion and pepper and turn them gently until every piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.✎ Chef’s noteHandle paneer gently, it crumbles if tossed hard. Longer marinating, up to overnight, only deepens the flavour.
- 3Heat the oven to 230C (450F). Thread the paneer, onion and pepper alternately onto skewers and lay them on a rack over a lined tray.
- 4Bake for 10 minutes, then switch to the hottest grill setting and grill for 3 to 4 minutes, until the edges are charred in spots.✎ Chef’s noteBrush any leftover marinade over the skewers before they go under the grill, it keeps the paneer from drying out.
- 5Sprinkle with a little chaat masala and serve hot with the green chutney, onion rings and lemon wedges.
Punjabi tandoor and restaurant tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Punjab. Two things worth keeping straight. Only three of the five rivers that give Punjab its name run through the Indian side today; the other two are in Pakistan. And the tandoor is far older and far wider than Punjab, with keyhole ovens found at Harappan sites and versions used across Central and West Asia, so the region adopted it thoroughly rather than invented it.
🗺️
India. India is less a single cuisine than a subcontinent of them, where every state cooks differently, coconut-rich curries in the south, tandoor breads and rich gravies in the north, vegetarian thalis in the west. A vast spice vocabulary and deep vegetarian traditions make it one of the world's most varied tables.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Grill or barbecue.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer)?
Cubes of paneer, onion and pepper coated in a yogurt marinade with chilli, garam masala and dried fenugreek, then grilled hot until charred at the edges and served with green chutney and lemon.
Where does Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer) come from?
Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer) is a North Indian dish from Punjab, India.
Can Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Paneer Tikka (Spiced Grilled Paneer) take to make?
About 1 h 34 min in all: 20 minutes prep and 14 minutes cooking, plus 1 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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