Before You Start
Paneer tikka borrows the tandoor technique that is best known from chicken tikka and uses it for paneer, which is how it became the default vegetarian order in tandoori restaurants as well as a reliable dish for parties and home barbecues. The marinade carries most of the weight: yogurt softens the surface and coats the cheese, and the tang and smokiness come from ginger-garlic paste, warm spices and a spoonful of mustard oil or lemon, flavours a short spell over strong heat could not build alone. Since paneer is a cooked dairy product, it need not be cooked through the way raw meat is, and the grill is there simply for colour and char and to heat the cheese through without drying it.
Where It Comes From
Paneer tikka developed out of the tandoori cooking of North India as a vegetarian answer to chicken tikka, and it rests on the tandoor-oven tradition of Punjab. It rose to prominence in the middle and later decades of the 20th century, when tandoori restaurants, many founded by Punjabi families who relocated after Partition, made tandoor cooking fashionable in Delhi and afterwards throughout India and overseas. Paneer tikka was created to let vegetarian guests eat something with the same smoky, blistered character as the meat dishes on the same menu. Unlike some chaat dishes it has no argued-over legend of ancient origin, and its history as a restaurant-driven 20th-century dish built on an older North Indian tandoor tradition is comparatively well documented.
How to Make It
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Prep
Stir together the marinade
Beat the yogurt until it is smooth and stir in the ginger-garlic paste, the roasted gram flour, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, crushed kasuri methi, the mustard oil or lemon juice and the salt, mixing until even. Roasted gram flour is what makes the marinade hold on to the paneer and vegetables and not run off, and it assists a little charring so the pieces do not merely steam on the grill.
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Prep
Coat the pieces gently
Put the paneer, bell pepper and onion into the marinade and turn them over with care so everything is coated without breaking the paneer, whose corners can be soft and crumbly. Cover the bowl and refrigerate it for a minimum of an hour and a maximum of four; a longer wait lets the yogurt's acid turn the paneer slightly mealy.
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Assemble
Thread the skewers
Push the marinated paneer and vegetables onto the skewers in an alternating pattern, which helps them cook evenly and looks better. Leave a little space between the pieces, and do not pack them tight, so heat can reach every side.
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Cook
Grill or roast until blackened at the edges
Brush a thin film of oil over the skewers. Cook on a grill over medium-high heat, or beneath a hot oven broiler, rotating them every 2 to 3 minutes until 10 to 12 minutes have passed and the paneer and vegetables are blackened at the edges and hot throughout. In an oven, place the skewers near the top element for better char and keep an eye on them, as broiler strength varies widely.
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Serve
Finish with lemon and bring to the table
Squeeze fresh lemon over the hot skewers and, if wished, dust with chaat masala. Bring them to the table at once with mint chutney and rings of raw onion, while the char still smells smoky and the paneer is warm and tender.
Swaps That Work
Firm tofu can be used instead of paneer, with a comparable bite and a different taste, though it should be pressed first to drain off water so that the marinade stays undiluted. If you have no mustard oil, or find its sharpness too much, lemon juice or a neutral oil can stand in, but mustard oil adds a pungent note that you find in many North Indian tandoori marinades.
Turning the Heat Up or Down
Kashmiri chilli powder is picked for a rich red colour with moderate heat, so to make the dish hotter put in some regular chilli powder or a pinch of cayenne as well. Garam masala and kasuri methi add warmth and aroma, not heat, and can be increased without making the dish much spicier. A simple way to add heat without disturbing the marinade is to serve very hot green chutney separately, or to top the cooked skewers with thin slices of raw chilli, so each person sets the level on their own plate.
Where Cooks Go Wrong
Grilling paneer directly from the refrigerator is the commonest error, since the cold cheese can tighten up and go rubbery before any char forms; leave it on the counter for around 15 minutes beforehand. Using heat that is too gentle is another, because the paneer dries before it browns, and this dish needs strong heat for a short time. The last is marinating for too many hours, which can leave the cheese mealy where it should be tender.
Keeping and Warming Up Leftovers
To keep: The marinated paneer and vegetables, left unskewered, will be fine in the refrigerator for a day before you grill them. Finished paneer tikka lasts two days refrigerated, but the texture is best when freshly cooked, as paneer stiffens and can become a little rubbery after being chilled and warmed again.
To warm up: Put the skewers in a hot oven or air fryer for 4 to 5 minutes, or give them a short turn in a hot pan; either recovers some char and heat without making the paneer drier. Long microwave heating toughens paneer and should be avoided.
Safe Handling
Paneer is cooked dairy to begin with, so, unlike raw meat, undercooking is not a concern; what matters is ordinary dairy handling. Keep the paneer in the refrigerator until shortly before you marinate it, and avoid leaving the yogurt marinade out at room temperature for long periods. When vegetables share the skewers, wash them thoroughly before you cut them.