Paneer is Indian cheese and ‘tikka’ is a general South Asian term meaning marinated barbequed food. Paneer Tikka is the one of the most creative  and versatile preparation  (can be as much properly done as in a professional hotel’s kitchen , house wife’s kitchen or even live on any open air spot ) with a majority acceptability as a trendy starter  at any occasion & session of dinning.

Ingredients
* 500gms Paneer – Triangles / cubes  & sliced & pocketed  2.5 x 1.5 x 1  inch  pieces
* 1 big onion – big chunks
* 2 green peppers – chopped
* 1 red pepper – chopped
* 1 yellow pepper – chopped

Marinade part
* 1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
* 2 tsp oil
* 1 cup wheyed out yogurt (stir it to make it smooth)
* 1/2 tsp jeera (cumin) powder
* 1/2 tsp chili powder
* 1 tsp tandoori masala powder
* 2 tbsp lemon juice
* 150 gms traditional mint chutney
* Salt to taste

Method
1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a big glass / plastic bowl .
2. Put all the chopped vegetables and paneer into the marinade
3. Keep covered with plastic wrap and leave on counter for 3-4 hours – if you’re keeping it overnight, keep it covered in the fridge!
4. If you kept it in the fridge, take it out the next day, and let it come to room temperature (that way the paneer cubes won’t be cold and hard)
5. separately stuff the chopped vegetables into the pockets made in paneer slices.
6 .Evenly  coat the marinade around the sliced  & stuffed paneer sandwiches – keeping aside for 1 hour
..7. pierce  the paneer  slices  on the skewer (don’t stick them too close to each other, maybe 4-5 paneer pieces at the max on a skewer )
8. Preheat the oven to 325F
9. Arrange all the skewers in a flat baking pan (the cookie baking type) and bake at 325F for 25 mins. Rotate them after the first 15 mins.
10. After the 20mins have passed, leave for an additional 5 mins at 400F to give it that nice browned look
11. While serving, squeeze some lemon juice all over the kababs
Serve with onion rings and dips.

(Courtesy Executive Chef Aman Tandon at ThePrideHotels Ahmedabad)