Tandoori Paneer Tikka in Air Fryer
Irresistible restaurant-style tandoori paneer tikka made using air fryer. Smoky spicy and super creamy!
Ingredients
- 350 g Paneer
- 1 large onion yield ¾ cup onion petals
- 1 medium green bell pepper yield ¾ cup (use colored bell peppers if you wish)
- Oil for cooking the tikka
For The Tandoori Marinade
- 200 g plain whole greek yogurt or thick regular curd
- 4 tablespoon besan gram flour or use chickpea flour
- 1.5 tablespoon ginger garlic paste homemade or store bought
- 1 tablespoon green chilli paste I use indian green chillies (use serrano paste if not available), adjust quantity to taste
- 1.5 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 3 tablespoon mustard oil or use melted ghee
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi dry fenugreek leaves, crushed
- 1-2 drops red food coloring optional
Spice for Marinade
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- 1.5 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder or use smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder (hot) adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder or use extra lemon jucie
- 1.5 teaspoon garam masala powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon green cardamom powder
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg powder fresh grated
- ½ teaspoon amchoor dry mango powder (or use lemon juice)
Instructions
Preparation
- Place paneer on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut into large (about 2 inch) squares or cubes.
- Peel and cut 1 medium onion into square shape pieces about the same size as paneer. Similarly, de stem and discard the core of bell pepper and cut in about the same size as onion.
- Pound the green chillies using your mortar pestle into a coarse paste. If you are making ginger garlic paste at home, you can pound them together with green chillies.
- In a pan, on low heat dry roast the besan (gram flour) for 4-5 minutes to do away its raw smell. Keep a close eye as besan burns easily.
- Optional Step - Some people are quite sensitive to the taste and aroma of mustard oil. You can warm up the oil till you see ripples on its surface, let cool down and then use in the marinade. Heating up the oil reduces its strong aroma and taste.
Make The Marinade
- In a large bowl, add the greek yogurt along with ginger-garlic paste, green chillies paste, all the ground spices (red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, chaat masala, amchoor, cardamom powder, nutmeg) ,roasted besan, kasuri methi and mustard oil.
- Using a whisk, beat the yogurt marinade until it's smooth and thick.Tip - If time allows, let this marinade sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours to deepen the flavors. Yes, marinate the marinade- its a thing!
Marinate the Paneer
- Add the paneer cubes to the marinade and using a spatula or with your hands gently mix taking care that the paneer doesn't break. Cover and let sit for 1-2 hours or up 6-8 hours. If your paneer is soft(the kind you get from halwai(indian sweet shops), don't marinate beyond 2-3 hours.Note -Don't marinate the vegetables else they will get watery due to salt in the marinade. To add flavor to the vegetables, save 3-4 tablespoon of the marinade and toss the reserved marinade with capsicum and onion 6-8 minutes before you are ready to make tikka.
- Brush the skewers with oil before threading the paneer. Skewer the marinated paneer, bell pepper and onion onto wooden or metal skewers. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them in water for 30 minutes prior to cooking to avoid burning.Tip - When skewering paneer, thread the paneer with the flattest side facing up. This way the tikka will get maximum exposure to heat while cooking.
Air Fry The Paneer Tikka (See other methods in notes)
- Pre heat your air fryer at 370F or 2 minutes. Arrange 4-5 paneer tikka skewers or more/less depending on size of your air fryer basket in a single layer making sure that the skewers art touching each other.
- Spray or liberally brush avocado oil or you could also use ghee to cook the tikka. Don't forget to line the air fryer basket with a perforated sheet for easy cleaning.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes. Using tongs, flip the skewers after 4 minutes. Spray some more oil on other side and cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side.
Char The Tikka for Smoky Taste (Optional but recommeneded)
- Make sure that the skewers are long enough so that you can hold them on both sides. I wear baking mittens to be extra careful. Switch on the stove flame on high and rotate the skewers over it (without touching the flame too much) to get an even char on all sides. This methods makes the tikka irresistibly smoky. Read other methods to get char taste in blog post above.
- Sprinkle paneer tikka with chaat masala while still warm. Serve with lemon wedges, sliced onion & green chutney.
Video
Notes
- Nutrition facts mentioned are an estimation only.
- Please refer to the written blog post for extra details and tips.
- If using frozen paneer chunks, make sure to thaw them completely before adding to the marinade.
- You can make paneer tikka without skewers in oven, air fryer or pan. Place the paneer chunks apart from each other.
- Don't skimp on oil else the tikka will be dry and stick to the pan.
- You could add food coloring to the marinade to give it a restaurant like look.
- If you don't want to use besan, use cornstarch or all purpose flour instead.
- For vegan version of this recipe, use firm tofu instead of paneer. Instead of yogurt, use dairy free yogurt (cashew yogurt works great!).
- Marinade Conistency- If you feel that the marinade is runny, add ½ to 1 tablespoon more roasted besan. We want the marinade to cover the paneer without sliding off. Alternatively add 1-2 tablespoon of greek yogurt if you need to thin out the marinade(but don't make it runny)
- Marinade Separation: If you notice that the marinade is separating and not coating the paneer, it could be due to watery yogurt. To fix it, sprinkle a little bit of besan, the besan will absorb extra moisture.
- Paneer Sticking to The Pan or Grill - Happens whenever there is in adequate oil. Drizzle oil so release the paneer.
- Dry Or Soggy Paneer Tikka- Both these situations happen due to overcooking the tikka (becomes dry) or undercooking at low temperature (starts releasing water). Make sure to follow the times mentioned in the recipe card.
- Serve as an appetizer or snack with two kinds of chutneys like green chutney, tamarind chutney, sliced onion and lemon slices. Add a refreshing drink like mango lemonade.
- You could serve as a main meal with naan or steamed rice, a side of methi dal and boondi raita.
- These paneer tikka also pair well with all sorts of pulao like mushroom pulao, soya chunks pulao or egg pulao.
- Wrap up panner tikka in paratha or roti to make rolls.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 407kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 18gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 928mgPotassium: 276mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 635IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 438mgIron: 1mg
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