Hariyali Paneer Tikka is a delicious starter snack that is made by marinating paneer cubes in a green paste or green chutney that are later grilled. This delicious recipe can be made both in the oven as well as the stovetop. I have shared both these ways of making this scrumptious dish.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 40 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks, Starters
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • ½ cup coriander leaves
  • ¼ cup mint leaves
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (- chopped or 1 inch peeled ginger)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic (- chopped or 4 medium peeled garlic cloves)
  • 1 teaspoon green chili (- chopped or 1 green chili, chopped)
  • 3 tablespoons curd ((yogurt) - thick)
  • 200 grams paneer ((Indian cottage cheese))
  • ¼ teaspoon carom seeds ((ajwain))
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder (or 1 to 2 pinches turmeric powder)
  • ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ¼ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ teaspoon dry mango powder ((amchur powder))
  • ¼ teaspoon chaat masala powder
  • 1 tablespoon Rice Flour (or besan (gram flour) or chickpea flour or corn flour)
  • ¼ teaspoon black salt
  • ¼ teaspoon regular salt (or add as required)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons oil (- optional)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1 onion (- medium-sized, thinly sliced)
  • 1 lime (or lemon, quartered)
  • chaat masala (to sprinkle, as required)

Method

Making green paste

  1. In a small blender jar take the rinsed coriander leaves and rinsed mint leaves.
  2. Add chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies.
  3. Then add fresh curd or yogurt.
  4. Grind to a fine and smooth paste without adding any water.

Making marination

  1. Take the finely ground green paste in a bowl.
  2. Add the following ingredients one by one - carom seeds, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, dry mango powder and chaat masala powder.
  3. Next add rice flour followed by ¼ teaspoon black salt and ¼ teaspoon regular salt or add as required.
  4. Add the lemon juice and Mix everything very well.
  5. Add paneer cubes.
  6. Gently mix the paneer cubes with the green marinade.
  7. Cover with a lid and marinate for minimum 30 minutes at room temperature or a couple of hours in the fridge.

Grilling in oven

  1. Now thread the paneer cubes in a bamboo or metal skewer.Rinse or soak bamboo skewers (for 10 minutes) in water, so that they do not get burnt.
  2. Place the skewers on a metal rack (kept on top of a baking tray to collect the drippings) or straightaway on a baking tray that is lined with a foil or parchment paper.
  3. Keep the tray in an oven which is already preheated at 250° C/480° F for 10 minutes. Keep in center rack and grill at 250° C/480° F with only the top heating element on.
  4. Halfway through grilling, remove the pan from oven, roughly after 8 to 10 minutes.
  5. Brush some oil on the paneer cubes. You can skip oil if you prefer.
  6. Turn over the skewers and brush oil on the other side of the paneer cubes too.
  7. Keep the tray back in the oven and continue to grill for 8 to 10 minutes or till you see a few charred spots at the edges of the paneer cubes. Overall you need to grill the tikka for a total of 16 to 20 minutes.
  8. Serve grilled tikka with mint-curd chutney or coriander chutney.
  9. Sprinkle some chaat masala on the tikka before serving. Also accompany some onion slices and lemon wedges.

Pan frying Paneer Hariyali Tikka (Stovetop Method)

  1. Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil on a tawa or flat skillet.
  2. Coat the paneer cubes well with the marinade and place them on the skillet or tawa. Pan fry paneer cubes on medium heat.
  3. When one side is crisp and golden, turn each paneer cubes and fry the second side.
  4. Fry the second side also till crisp and golden. Flip a couple of times for even frying. Do add more oil if needed. This way fry the paneer cubes in batches of two or three.
  5. Remove the pan-fried paneer cubes in a plate. You can place them on kitchen paper towels to remove extra oil.
  6. Once the heat is enough to handle, then you can thread them on toothpicks. Or you can just serve them directly with small fork or toothpicks.
  7. Serve crispy pan-fried Paneer Hariyali Tikka made with mint chutney or coriander chutney. Sprinkle a few pinches of chaat masala on the tikka before serving. Opt to accompany some onion slices and lemon wedges if you like.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.