Getting into Spring: Paneer Tikka

Spring is here and Delhi is a riot of colour. There are the myriad shades of green and now the blooms. To all this, Holi added its bright colours this week.

It has been a while since we joined in the revelry that Holi is but a party is always welcome. My MIL would always make fruit salad on this day. But who can handle all that cream in this day and age. One Holi we ate homemade pizza and ordered ice cream. If I feel like I will sometimes make gujiya, the traditional Holi sweet here in the North.  [Some other traditional Holi recipes here.]

This year all I did was cut up great looking purple carrots and start the process of preparing a cooling fermented drink… (yes, Pel are you listening?) As it turns out, it is a traditional drink for Holi second only to the frothy bhang! It is an apt one alright – with that deep purple colour…

While you wait for that recipe, here’s the one I promised last time – great party fare this one too.

Paneer Tikka

for the marinade
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2″ piece ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 t red chilli powder
1 t Punjabi garam masala
1 t cumin, roasted and ground
1 T oil
juice of half a lime
3 T yoghurt
salt

for the tikka:
400gms paneer, cubed
2 red onions, halved along the equator, sectioned
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
1 C button mushrooms
a tomato or two, sectioned into eighths

In a blender or food processor mix all the marinade ingredients. Pour the marinade into a large bowl. Put the paneer cubes into the marinade and refrigerate covered for upto an hour. Add the prepared vegetables to the marinade 10 minutes before assembling the skewers.

Turn on the broiler. Alternatively, you can roast them over coals. Assemble the tikkas by skewering the marinated paneer and vegetables, and broil for 5 min. Turn the skewers around and broil again till the paneer and the vegetables are spotted with black. If you don’t have skewers (and round ones are a waste anyway – the vegetables and paneer just keep slipping into the same position), just spread everything on a foil-covered baking sheet and broil. Serve hot with a mint-coriander-green chilli chutney and a twist of lime if desired.

And, oh…that was not all I did this past week…

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