Smoky Paneer Tikka

First, a word on this dish

If you have ever eaten chicken tikka at a restaurant, you already know the idea behind paneer tikka: strong marinade, fierce heat, a few blackened edges. Here the same method is applied to paneer, which is why it sits on nearly every tandoori menu as the vegetarian choice, and why it works so well for parties and backyard barbecues. Most of the flavour comes from the marinade, not from the grill. The yogurt softens and coats the cubes, while ginger-garlic paste, warm spices and a little mustard oil or lemon give you the tang and smokiness that a few minutes over heat could never produce alone. Because paneer is a cooked dairy product to begin with, you are not aiming for doneness the way you would with meat. What you want from the grill is colour, some char, and warmth right through the middle, and you want all of that without drying the cheese out.

The story behind the dish

Paneer tikka grew out of North India's tandoori cooking, taking its cue from dishes such as chicken tikka and drawing on the clay-oven traditions of Punjab. It gained ground from the middle of the twentieth century, when tandoori restaurants, many of them opened by Punjabi families who had moved after Partition, made tandoor food fashionable in Delhi and then in the rest of India and abroad. Cooks created paneer tikka for the vegetarian guests at those same tables, so they could enjoy the same smoky, charred taste as everyone eating the meat dishes. Unlike some chaat dishes, it has no murky ancient story attached to it. It is a restaurant creation of the last century, resting on a much older tandoor tradition, and its history is fairly well recorded.

The method, in order

1. Prep

   Stir together the marinade

   Beat the yogurt until it has no lumps. Then mix in the ginger-garlic paste, roasted besan, chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander, garam masala, crumbled kasuri methi, mustard oil or lemon juice, and salt, until you cannot see streaks of any one ingredient. Do not skip the roasted besan, because it helps the marinade grip the paneer and vegetables instead of dripping off, and it also encourages a little charring over the heat rather than plain steaming.

2. Prep

   Coat the pieces without breaking them

   Add the paneer, peppers and onion to the bowl and turn them over with a spoon or your hands, slowly. Paneer crumbles easily at the corners, so you want a gentle touch. Cover the bowl and chill it for at least an hour. Four hours is the upper limit. If you leave it longer, the acid in the yogurt starts to give the paneer a grainy, mealy bite.

3. Assemble

   Load the skewers

   Slide the paneer and vegetables onto the skewers, alternating them so each skewer cooks evenly and looks good on the plate. Leave a little room between pieces. If they are jammed together, the heat cannot get at all their sides and some faces stay pale.

4. Cook

   Cook over high heat until the edges blacken

   Brush a thin film of oil on the skewers. Cook over a medium-high grill, or beneath a hot broiler, and turn them every 2 to 3 minutes. The whole thing takes 10 to 12 minutes. Look for blackened spots at the edges and heat all through. Under a broiler, place them close to the element and keep watching, since broilers range from gentle to ferocious.

5. Serve

   Finish with lemon and serve hot

   Squeeze fresh lemon over the skewers while they are still hot, and add a sprinkle of chaat masala if you like. Put them on the table straight away with mint chutney and raw onion rings. The char smells best, and the paneer is softest, in the first few minutes.

Ingredient stand-ins

Pressed firm tofu is the stand-in if you cannot get paneer, and squeezing out its water first keeps the marinade strong. Mustard oil gives the dish its characteristic sharp, pungent note, but if it is hard to find or too forceful for you, use lemon juice or a neutral oil.

Making it milder or fiercer

The reason for Kashmiri chilli powder is colour, since it turns the marinade deep red without adding much burn. Add some regular chilli powder or cayenne when you want heat. Garam masala and kasuri methi add aroma and warmth, not fire, so go ahead and increase them. For a table with mixed tastes, a bowl of hot green chutney or sliced fresh chilli to scatter on top lets everyone decide for themselves.

Storing what is left

Fridge or counter: You can keep the paneer and vegetables in the marinade, off the skewers, in the refrigerator for up to a day before cooking. Finished paneer tikka stays good in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, though it tastes best fresh, because paneer firms up when chilled and can turn a little rubbery once reheated.

Bringing it back to life: A hot pan for a few minutes, or 4 to 5 minutes in a hot oven or air fryer, brings back warmth and a bit of char. Keep any microwave time short, as paneer toughens when it heats for long.