Recipe: No Onions Stuffed Paneer Tikka

All my culinary adventures revolve around my 10 year old -- who also is my biggest critic -- and her mother, who is just an older version of the little monster.

Both are famous as Choti Malkin and Badi Malkin among those who know me.

My Badi Malkin is very hard to please when it comes to non-veg food while my Choti Malkin is very picky when she's asked to judge.

Did I mention that non-veg food is my forte?

There are times when I turn to veg food, especially when I am nagged by my vegetarian friends for a recipe.

So I racked my brains hard and out popped a recipe that I call Stuffed Paneer Tikka.

As for the taste, I would only know when I tried it out.

I was thrilled when my critics on the domestic front gave me a thumbs up; my herbivore friends too were delighted.

I was quite surprised that a simple combination of paneer and green peas, without using onion and garlic (rather important in these times of rising onion prices), can turn into something that tasty!

The recipe is really simple and uses very few ingredients. I am sure it will be a showstopper at your home every time you make it.

Stuffed Paneer Tikka

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 500 gm paneer or cottage cheese
• ½ cup hung curd or yoghurt
• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• 1½ tsp Kashmiri or bedgi chilly powder
• 2 tsp tandoori masala
• Butter
• Chaat masala
• Salt to taste, around 1 tsp

For the stuffing

• 200 grams green peas
• 8-12 green chillies or to taste
• 1 tbsp chaat masala
• Juice of half a neebu or lemon
• 1 tbsp butter/ghee
• Salt to taste, around 1 tsp

For serving 

• Chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves
• Chaat masala
• Pudina or mint chutney
• Salad, like slices of onions, tomatoes and green capsicum

Method

• Blend the green peas, chillies, lemon juice, salt, chaat masala in a mixer till a coarse paste.
  Then add the lemon juice and give it one more pulse.
• Melt 1 tbsp butter/ghee in a small frying pan and saute the peas-chilly-lemon paste for 3-4 minutes over low to medium heat.
  Take off heat and cool.
• Mix the hung curd, mustard oil, Kashmiri/bedgi chilly powder, tandoori masala, lemon juice, salt to make a paste.
  Cut the paneer into 1½-inch squares that are about ½ inch thick.
  Coat the slices evenly with the hung curd mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  Then sandwich the peas paste between two slices of paneer as shown in the video below.
  Repeat for all the slices.
• Melt 2 tbsp butter in a larger frying pan and carefully place each stuffed paneer tikka into the pan.
  Apply the excess marinade on top as shown in the video.
  Pan grill the tikkas till the marinade is cooked.
  Take out of the pan and, let rest for a minute.
• Cut the squares diagonally and sprinkle chaat masala and finely chopped coriander over it.
  Serve with mint chutney and salad.

Editor's Note: Make your own mint chutney. Use Lahu Kapduskar's recipe for Green Mint Chutney.

Watch Ameya making this yummy recipe.

You can see his earlier recipe here.

Ameya is a doting dad and a passionate chef. Cooking is like therapy for him and he jumps at every opportunity he can find to cook. And if he does not find the opportunity, he simply creates it :) He shares his recipes on his YouTube channel, Oh My Food! Kitchen.

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