Paneer Tikka | My Journey So Far….

So far I have shown you recipes which my kids prefer to eat. Now, just for a change, and for a very special request, my husband’s favorite Raita Recipe – The Boondi Raita.

Boondi Raita is a side dish served with Indian Meal. It can also be used as a dip or salad, or as salad dressing too. Raita can be prepared with different ingredients like, cucumber (my favorite), tomato, onion, pumpkin, mint, pineapple etc… here, I have made one from Boondi, which is a Rajasthani food item, prepared from chickpea flour, with spices added to it before frying.

Let’s go and make ourselves a bowl of Boondi Raita, now.

Ingredients –

1 cup Curd
½ cup Boondi (Khara/Tikha)
½ tbsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
½ tbsp fried Cumin.
¼ tbsp Red Chilli Powder
¼ tbsp Black Pepper Powder
½ tbsp Chaat Masala
1 tbsp chopped Mint Leaves
Salt as per your taste.

Method –

Soak Boondi in warm water for 15 -20 Minutes.
Drain the Boondi gently, without mashing them. Keep aside.
Whisk curd in a bowl. Add water if desired for the desired consistency.
Add all the spices along with chopped Mint leaves.
Mix well.
Add Boondi to curd mixture. Mix it gently.
Sprinkle with fried Cumin.
Garnish with Mint Leaves, and serve cold.

Best thing about Boondi Raita, or for the matter any other kind of Raita is that, it’s ingredients can be replaced with so many available variations.

Like, you can use Coriander leaves instead of Mint, or you can use green chilli instead of red chilli powder, black salt instead of normal sea salt. You can totally ditch Cumin if you are not a fan. Even chaat masala is upto your taste buds. So, even if you will just have curd and Boondi mixed together, with some salt, you will have a Boondi Raita. 😀

That’s easy, right???

P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂

For us vegetarians, Paneer can be termed as delicious and mouthwatering as Chicken is for the Non Vegetarians. We relish Paneer dishes. Karahi Paneer is one of my favorite dishes, along with Paneer Tikka, which I have tried my hands on this weekend.

Paneer Tikka is marinated Cheese/Paneer, with spices and curd, which is grilled or baked, preferably in a tandoor, but an oven will do too.

Below is the recipe for it. I have done this with some variations so, posting my variations too, along with the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1½ cup Paneer (Tofu also worked for me 🙂 )
2 Capsicums (Red Yellow or Green) – I have not used Capsicum coz hubby doesn’t like them 😛
1 Onion
1 Tomato
1 cup Hung Curd
1½ tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1/2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder (use Kashmiri Red Chilli if you want more Red Color)
1 tbsp Turmeric Powder (Optional as per your taste/color choice)
1/4 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Coriander Powder
1 tbsp Chaat Masa
Oil to spray for baking/griling
Salt as per taste (You may also like to use black salt in small quantity)

Method (fairly simple):

Mix curd with all the spices. Add lemon juice to it. Mix well.
Dice vegetables and Paneer into square shapes or any shape you prefer, just small pieces 🙂
Marinate Paneer and vegetables in the Curd mix prepared above. Put them aside for 2 hours, in fridge.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Place your onion, tomato, capsicum(I didn’t used them 😦 ) and Paneer onto Skewers (You can use toothpicks too).
Spray with some olive oil.
Put them in oven for 10 minutes.
Rotate your skewers. 10 minutes more in oven and done.
Serve hot with chutney of your choice (preferably Mint chutney). Sprinkle some lemon juice to add that tangy taste to it.

You can garnish them with lemon wedges and onion slices.

Preparation won’t take much, except for the 2 hours of marinated time. Tasty and healthy recipe which my kids enjoyed eating too.

One more variation– I used extra gravy left after marination as separate dish or as Masala for my Paneer Tikka 🙂

P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂