Spice crusted paneer tikka in green sauce / chutney – a different approach

Spice / pappad crusted paneer tikka in green sauce – a quick party pleaser and an appetizer that needs no preparation and can be prepared in a jiffy. Above all, healthy and a zero oil recipe for party appetizer.

Please note that this recipe of mine came out a clear winner in a recipe contest.

For me weekends now a days strictly means eating out, shopping, mall hopping or a long drive on country roads, sitting quietly with a book, and yes No Cooking… some external forces overpowers me on weekend. Height of laziness – that I become too sluggish to go to kitchen to prepare even the first meal of the day, breakfasts usually served by Dunkin donuts or Waffle house and back home in India, mostly by so many Udupi joints…and if I happens to be in Kolkata then it’s just like cracking a jackpot for me  ….kachoris…samosas…jalebis….ooohhh.

This Sunday we had planned for a visit to NC’s State Museum, and yes both of us are Museum bugs, we always makes it sure to visit a museum wherever we goes, to be in sync with the culture and history of the region. Not to mention that these museum hopping are extremely tiresome. Just as soon as we had reached home, we had few un announced guest knocking at the door.

I love surprises, but not all the time definitely not on a Sunday evening. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a very good hostess, and a passionate cook above all. But hosting Mrs K and her family is a different story altogether. Knowing very well that she will eventually turned down my labor-intensive gourmet dishes into something very cheap and simple, my five star stuffed fish recipe was her first victim. And I had learned this lesson in a hard way that never serve those dishes to someone who can not be appreciate it. Well every one has their choices and liking and you will escape the chance of such brutal oversimplifications !!!

This time I acted smart, I made these spice crusted paneer tikka which needs no preparation at all, can be prepared in a jiffy and taste so good that you can not stop at once. This dish requires no recipe at all, its basically a technique and slightly different approach to present the same old paneer tikka in a new way. Just roll or marinate the paneer cubes in your favourite chutney, Indian green chutney in this case and just roll them in handful of pounded spice mixture. It will taste good if you can keep the texture of the spice mixture a bit coarser and flavourful.

Also you can roll them on crushed pappad / poppadum.

Roast them in the oven to perfection. More importantly this paneer tikka is absolutely healthy and zero oil appetizer and at the same time, a huge crowd pleaser too.

You can also check my paneer reshmi kebab here, another party appetizer or for special occasions.

Spice crusted paneer tikka in green sauce / chutney - a different approach

 

Save Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Cubed panners are first marinated in green chutney , crusted with roasted spice mix and then roasted in oven for 10 minutes.

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 15

Ingredients

• Paneer ( Indian cottage cheese) : 15 cubes
• Green chutney / cilantro - mint chutney : 4-5 tbsp
• Spice mix roasted and crushed coarsely : ½ cup
• Spice mix :
• Coriander seeds : 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds : 1 tbsp
• Fennel seeds : 1 tbsp
• White Sesame seeds : 1 tbsp
• Nigella (kalonji) seeds : 1 tbsp

Instructions

1. Marinate the cubed paneer in green chutney (cilantro-mint chutney) for at least half an hour. Coat each side of the paneer well with the chutney.
2. Roast the spices in a pan and then crushed them coarsely in a mixer, a pulse or two is just fine to get a coarse mixture.
3. Insert a toothpick in the marinated cubed paneer and dip them in the roasted spice mixture.
4. Coat them well with the spice mixture and arrange them on a baking tray lined with foil.
5. Roast them in a preheated oven at 375 F for 10 minutes.
6. Serve immediately with green chutney or sauce.

Notes

Feel free to use any sauce you like, plain old tomato ketchup will also goes good with it.
If you want to give it Far-eastern touch, then dipped the paneer (you can use tofu too) in soy or oyster sauce and coat them with roasted white sesame seeds.

3.5.3226

Also these paneer tikkas taste heavenly with homemade / store bought fresh paneer. Frozen paneer does not taste that good in this recipe. If you want to learn how to make fresh homemade paneer at home, you can check this post of  mine.

This is very quick paneer tikka, needs absolutley no preparation at all and very different from the usual one, try this out and let me know your reactions !!! Btw, how do you please your unannounced guest do share with us your little secret tips ?

Have a Happy Tuesday
Sukanya