Tandoori Paneer Tikka

This is the best Tandoori Paneer Tikka in the air-fryer you’ll ever make at home. Charred from outside giving that exotic smokiness in the dish and silky, light, soft, and melt-in-mouth from inside! Same restaurant style taste, but roasted in an air fryer.

When we talk about starters or appetizers, then one of the first Indian dish which comes to everyone’s mind is tikka. Here, Tandoori Paneer Tikka is especially favored, because it has that ideal mingle of spices that can be easily available at home, paneer (Indian cottage cheese cubes) are marinated in a spiced yogurt-based marinade, arranged on skewers and air-fried, grilled or baked in the oven.

In India, a party without tandoori starters is not a party at all. Be it a weekend get-together, barbeque, or dinner parties, tandoori dishes are a must. Paneer is one of the most loved food in India and it can be served in various forms. You need to try to really understand what I mean. My mouth is watering just by thinking about it.

Do try other Paneer recipes :

• Malai Kofta
• Palak Paneer
• Paneer Tikka Pizza Sliders 
• Paneer Butter Masala 
• Paneer Bhurji Gravy
• Paneer Dum Tikka

Preparation Time: 20-30mins  ∏  Cooking Time: 15-20mins  ∏  Servings: 2-3persons

Level: Intermediate(Medium)      ∏  Measurement: 1 Cup ≡ 250 ml ≡ 250gm

Ingredients:

How to make Tandoori Paneer Tikka:

Step1: In a large bowl, take the hung curd (greek yogurt) and whisk it lightly till it becomes smooth. If you do not have hung curd, then simply take the regular curd and keep in the fine strainer and let it sit for around 15-20 mins this will release the excess water from the curd which will make it perfect for coating the paneer and veggies.

Step2: Add ginger-garlic paste and all the spice powders (such as garam masala) along with kasuri methi, salt, pepper, lemon juice and mustard oil.

Step3: Using whisk or spoon mix very well. Check the taste and add more seasonings if required.

Step4: Add the onions, green capsicum, red capsicum and paneer to the marinade. Slowly and gently mix them with the marinade.(Be careful not to break paneer pieces)

Step5: Cover and keep the marinated paneer and veggies at room temperature for 20 minutes, If you are planning to prepare it later then keep them in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more.

Step6: Preheat the Air-fryer at 390Deg F for 5 mins. If you are using oven then preheat it at 400Deg F.

Step8: Place the rack in the air-fryer and set it at 390Deg F for 12-15mins (Turn couple of time in between to get the evenly cooked tikka)

Tips:

• There are many ways to cook paneer tikka at home. You can cook this tandoori paneer tikka on the air-fryer, grill, in a tandoor, in a pan or the oven.
• The paneer should be soft, succulent, and thoroughly cooked. But do not overcook the paneer tikka. Or else, the paneer will become almost like chewy like rubber, and it would not be very appetizing.
• Add a mix of veggies here l have used onion and bell peppers for this recipe, but you can also add tomato, baby corn, zucchini, and mushroom, cauliflower etc. For cauliflower blanch them before marinating.
• Let it marinate at least 20-30 minutes. If you have some extra time, you can always marinade the vegetable and paneer for 2 hours or even longer if you want. The longer it sits in the marinade, the more it absorbs the flavors from the marinade.
• While grilling the paneer cubes and veggies can become dry. Hence oil is added to the marination mixture. The paneer cubes and veggies are also brushed with some oil to avoid them from becoming dry.
• Paneer Tikka tastes best with mustard oil but you may use oil of your choice.