The Best Paneer Recipes, Including How To Marinate Paneer For BBQ

Have you ever tried delicious paneer recipes? Do you know how to prepare a BBQ paneer tikka recipe? If not, then this article is worth reading for you. Here we will enlist some of the best paneer recipes that you must try at your home and will also help you in discovering how you can marinate paneer for BBQ. So, without any further due, let’s get started.

Paneer is a famous Indian cottage cheese made by curdling fresh cow’s fat-milk with the addition of a citrus ingredient like lemon juice or vinegar. The essential requirement for making paneer soft, delicate, and aromatic is by preparing it in fresh milk and using it in the recipe as early as possible. Contrarily, if it is refrigerated, it’s taste might get compromised.

Best Paneer Recipes

There are several Indian dishes, in which when paneer is added, they offer exotic taste and unique smell that leaves a person mouthwatering. We will go through some of the best paneer recipes that require fewer ingredients and are easy to cook at home.

1.      Shahi Paneer:

Do you want to know how to make shahi paneer Punjabi style? If yes, then you are in the right place. Here is a list of ingredients required to prepare Shahi paneer from the comfort of your home.

Ingredients:

  • Butter (2 oz.)
  • Green chilies, sliced (2)
  • Large onion, finely chopped (1)
  • Garlic, crushed (0.5 oz.)
  • Ginger, crushed (0.5 oz.)
  • Tomato puree (12 oz)
  • Coriander (0.5 oz.)
  • Paneer masala (0.5 oz.)
  • Salt, as per taste
  • Heavy cream (16 oz.)
  • Paneer, cut in cubes (14 oz)

Instructions:

Here is the step by step procedure to prepare shahi paneer at home.

  1. Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat.
  2. Add chili and cook for a minute. Then add onion while stirring. Cook it for 2-3 minutes until the color of the onion changes. Now, put crushed ginger and garlic into it and again cook for the same period until it gives its unique aroma. Cook it on low flame for ten more minutes to make onion soft. Make sure to stir occasionally to avoid burning from bottom and stickiness.
  3. Add tomato puree and cook for nearly 10 minutes until it appears to be separating and reduced to half in volume.
  4. Add coriander and paneer masala, cook it for a while by covering it. You may add salt here as per your taste.
  5. Pour the heavy cream and paneer cubes and let it cook on low flame for 20-30 minutes. Cover and wait till all the ingredients are tender.
  6. Shahi paneer is ready to serve with roti, Indian bread or rice.

2.      Kadai Paneer

Let’s discuss another delicious recipe, i.e., kadai paneer. Here is a list of ingredients that are required to prepare kadai paneer at home.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

The following instructions will help you to prepare kadai paneer step by step.

  1. Grind coriander seeds and chilies in a grinder to a semi-fine powder.
  2. Take a kadhai or frying pan and heat the oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook it for 2-3 minutes until it gets soft.
  3. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a while until the aroma of the paste goes away. Now, add tomato and again sauté for a couple of minutes.
  4. Now add kadhai masala and stir it on low to medium flame until the whole mixture becomes like a paste.
  5. Add capsicum and cook until sauté. You may leave it at half or complete sauté. Other spices and salt may be added according to taste and desire.
  6. Finally, add paneer and cook it on low heat for 5-10 minutes. Coriander leaves maybe add for garnishing.
  7. Kadhai paneer can be served in two ways, semi-dry and gravy. Semi-dry goes best with bread or roti while gravy with rice.

3.      Paneer Masala/Sauce:

Here is a list of ingredients required to prepare paneer masala sauce.

Ingredients

Instructions:

  1. Heat a piece of butter in a large pan. Add chopped onion and stir while heating it on high flame.
  2. Turn heat to low, add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and fennel seeds and cook for 5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and heat it further for 5 mins on low heat, meanwhile stirring to make sure it does not get burnt at the bottom or stick with it.
  3. Add the turmeric, coriander, and chili powder and fry it for a minute. Add tomato puree and stir it in hot water to give it a saucy texture.
  4. Bring to the boil and simmer, occasionally stirring for around 20 mins. Add salt to taste.
  5. Heat the oil in a frying pan and put the cubes of paneer in it. Fry the cubes until color turns golden. Add paneer to the sauce at the end.
  6. It can be best served with chapattis (Indian bread/roti) or rice.

4.      BBQ Paneer Tikka Recipe

After marinating paneer, all you need to do is to preheat the oven or the grill. Meanwhile, vegetables should be arranged and paneer on a skewer.

Cook over charcoal, if planning BBQ with friends or family. Let it cook until color turns a little brown. Make sure not to overcook.

How to Marinate Paneer for BBQ

To make BBQ dishes at home that will include paneer, we need to marinate it first. The process of marinating is explained below:

Here is a list of ingredients required to marinate Paneer for BBQ.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  1. Combine all the ingredients from yogurt onwards and mix them gently.
  2. Add paneer cubes and mix well until all the pieces of paneer cubes are covered with the sauce.
  3. Leave it for 4-5 hours before using in a recipe or refrigerate to avoid contamination.

5.      Tandoori Paneer Tikka Recipe:

The process of making tandoori paneer is the same, starting from marinating the paneer to making it a tikka recipe at the end. The only difference is how it is going to be cooked.

Tandoori paneer tikka is prepared in a tandoor, which is a name for the traditional Indian clay oven.

Serving Suggestions:

Paneer tikka either BBQ grilled or tandoori, it can be served with some of the best condiments that will enhance your desire to eat. Cucumber raita, mint or coriander leaves chutney, side salads like tomato paste, or lettuce can make this tikka recipe wild in taste and texture.

The combination of tikka and a condiment can be different according to your desire, but it goes best with almost any condiment you choose.

Is Paneer Healthy for You?

Paneer is considered as a vital ingredient in many Indian and South Asian cuisines because it not only adds taste in a recipe but is also healthy for everyone as it contains low amounts of proteins & carbohydrates.

The amount of carbs in 200g of paneer is roughly 25g, which is better for people who want to have low carbs in their diet. Therefore, paneer can be considered as a keto diet as well. It is the best alternative to meat. If you are a vegetarian, you would undoubtedly love it.

The benefits of adding paneer in your diet are:

  • Helps in bodybuilding
  • Boosts Weight Loss
  • Improves Body Metabolism
  • Maintains blood sugar levels
  • Reduces body and joint pains
  • Improves Immune System
  • Prevents Cancer

and much more…

Side Effects of Consuming Paneer

On the flip side, some side effects of consuming paneer do exist as well. If you are consuming it regularly, it may cause food poisoning, skin allergies, diarrhea, etc. It raises the cholesterol level that may harm heart patients. 

Paneer and all other dairy products must be avoided if you are suffering from piles. Consuming dairy products, especially paneer, might cause constipation. Therefore, you have to make sure that you do not consume paneer is an excessive amount. 

Final Remarks

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. The recipes mentioned are worth trying at home. Choose the one that is your most favorite and don’t forget to share your experience with us in the comment box.

Photo by Pushpak Dsilva on Unsplash

Photo by Andy Hay on Unsplash

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