Recipe: Bethica's Achaari Paneer Tikka

Homemade raw mango pickle is one of the magical ingredients in Bethica Das' tongue-tickling Achaari Paneer Tikka.

The paneer cubes and its accompanying veggies are marinated in her special mango pickle, yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste and other spices.

"I first shallow fried the paneer in a pan. Then threaded them onto greased skewers," says Bethica. "To give the tikka a smoky flavour, I placed the skewers on a steel wire mesh and grilled over a direct flame on the stovetop till slightly charred."

"These yummy small bites should be dipped in green chutney and accompanied with sliced onions, lime and green chillies," recommends Bethica.

"They can also be served in sandwiches or in a paneer roll for a light meal on the go. You can pack them up for lunch in parathas too."

Bethica is a self-trained homechef, who started cooking from rather young, maintaining a notebook of recipes. She once ran Bengali food classes in Chennai. After spending 15 years working in a bank, Bethica turned to blogging.

Please do have a look at her recipes here.

Achaari Paneer Tikka

Serves: 2

• 200 gm paneer cubes
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
• ¼ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilly powder
• 2 tbsp mustard oil
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp hung yoghurt
• 2 tbsp roasted besan or chickpea flour or gram flour
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tbsp grated raw mango pickle (see the recipe below)
• Few wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
• Few pieces diced onions and tomatoes
• Fresh green dhania or coriander or cilantro, for garnish, chopped
• Green chutney
  Sliced onion, lime and green chillies, to serve

Method

• Make a paste of the yoghurt, raw mango pickle, roasted chickpea flour, Kashmiri red chilly powder, turmeric powder, lime juice, 1 tbsp of the mustard oil, ginger-garlic paste, salt.
  Add the paneer cubes and the diced onions and tomatoes.
  Marinate with the achaari paste for an hour in the refrigerator.
• Heat the remaining mustard oil in a pan and sauté the marinated paneer and veggies for a few seconds on all sides.
  Keep aside.
• Thread the sautéed paneer and the veggies onto greased skewers.
  For a smoky flavour, place the skewers on a steel wire mesh and grill over a direct flame on the stovetop till slightly charred.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve, as an appetiser with green chutney, sliced onions, limes and green chillies.

Raw Mango Pickle

Ingredients

• 2 medium raw green mango, grated
• 2 tbsp dry roasted panch phoron, powdered (the typical Bengali five spice mixture)
• 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 cup mustard oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp red chilly powder

Method

• In a bowl, combine all the ingredients well and store in an airtight container.
• Refrigerate it and consume after a week.

Bethica's Note: For the panch phoron, use equal quantities of fennel (sonf), fenugreek (methi), mustard (rai), cumin (jeera) and nigella seeds (kalonji).

The quantity of fenugreek seeds in the panch phoron masala may be reduced due to its bitterness.

Editor's Note: For a recipe for green chutney use Lahu Kapudskar's Mint-Dhania Chutney.

Bethica Das is a Sharjah-based food blogger and her blog is named Bethica's Kitchen.

• REDIFF FOOD