Foods that bring back comforting memories are precious and so is my homemade Paneer. Cottage cheese or paneer rarely made onto the shopping list of my mother, in fact it was never sold in any shop or super market back then.

Three vessels would always occupy the prime space of my mom’s refrigerator, fresh milk, leftover milk and the last one had thick cream or malai collected from the leftover milk.

The leftover milk was used to make soft and creamy paneer or cottage cheese and the malai or cream into homemade ghee, over the weekend.

She would then wash the homemade paneer to remove the acidity and use it in desserts, tikkas, spreads, parathas or in curries.

She did not have oven or grill to make tikkas, and cooked the paneer cubes with marinate in a pan. I loved to scrape the almost charred yogurt more than the tikkas.

At home, when I am cooking the tikkas for my family, I also like to cook the tikkas along-with its marinate as we all love to (read fight for) hog on the grilled spicy yogurt from the baking tray.

1. 1. Tofu Tikkas

This is the only way my daughter likes to eat Tofu and so Tofu tikkas it is for most of the weekends. Tofu is like a sponge, it absorbs flavors of the marinate very well. I try to marinate small cubes of Tofu overnight and grill it the next day with fresh capsicum and lots of onions.

I simply spread all the Tofu cubes along-with its marinate in a large baking tray and grill it for 15- 20 minutes, you can also do the same in a large shallow pan with a few tablespoons of oil drizzled over it.

Ingredients;

(serve 3)

• 200 gms firm Tofu
• 1 large Capsicum
• 1 tbsp. oil

Marinade;

• 1 cup thick yogurt
• 9-10 shredded mint leaves
• 1 tsp. red chilly powder
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. Kasuri methi
• ½ tsp. dry mango powder
• 1/2 tsp. garam masala
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper powder
• Salt to taste

 

Method; Whisk yogurt in a large bowl and add all the ingredients listed under marinade in it.

Add Tofu cubes and let it marinate for at-least 1-2 hours or even overnight in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 200°C and chop the capsicum (I have used yellow capsicum in the recipe) and Tofu into large cubes.

Take a large aluminum foil of a baking tray and spread Tofu cubes with the marinade in it.

Drizzle oil over the Tofu cubes and grill it for 15-20 minutes. Turn the Tofu pieces with a tong or fork in between for even cooking.

Serve these healthy Tofu tikkas with coriander chutney.

2. Aachari Paneer Tikka

Achaari Paneer Tikka has a very Indian flavor to it and makes a perfect appetizer and finger food for parties. The medley of Indian spices used for pickle lends a flavorful aroma and taste to these tikkas.

Ingredients;

(serve 3)

• 200 gms cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp. oil

Marinade

• 1 cup thick yogurt
• 1 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp old pickle masala or oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Kasuri methi
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp. nigella seeds
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
• salt to taste

Method; Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds (kalonji dana), fennel seeds (saunf), mustard seeds for few minutes and grind into fine powder.

Take yogurt and ground spices in a bowl and add chilly powder, salt, Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) and any old pickle masala or oil in it and combine well.

 

Add cubes of cottage cheese (paneer) in the above marinade and leave it for 1-2 hours or overnight in refrigerator to marinate.

Place the marinated cottage cheese on a baking tray or or wooden skewers and grill in oven for 15 minutes.

Serve these Achaari Paneer tikka with green chutney.

Notes;

1. You can also add cubes of tomatoes, onion and any other colour of bell pepper or capsicum into the tikka recipes.
2. Use extra thick yogurt or curd to make marinate if you like tikkas without the gravy.
3. If using Tofu for the above recipe try to cut small cubes.
4. Replace dry mango powder or Amchoor with chaat masala or dash of lemon juice for tartness in the marinade.
5. Sprinkle Indian Chaat masala or a dash of lemon juice over both the tikka recipes before serving for that extra zing.

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