Paneer Tikka (Oven, Tawa or Air-Fryer)
Punjab's tandoori favourite made without a tandoor: paneer and vegetables in a hung-curd marinade, charred in a hot oven, on a tawa or in an air-fryer.
- Region
- Punjab
- Status
- Traditional
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Marinate 30 min · Prep 15 min · Cook 15 min
- Serves
- 3 (about 6 pieces each)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Evening snack, guests, post-workout
- Tags
- High protein · Lower-carbohydrate · Soy-free · Whey-free · Gluten-free* · No added sugar
- Allergens
- Milk
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 245 kcal
- Protein
- 15 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Headline values are per serving, as written.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per serving | 245 | 15 g | 14 g | 14 g | 7 g | 2 g | 10 g | 6.0 g |
High protein. Full-fat paneer makes this rich; the low-fat swap is below. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 200 g full-fat paneer, in 3 cm cubes
- 60 g onion, 80 g capsicum, 60 g firm tomato (deseeded), in 3 cm pieces
- Marinade: 60 g hung curd · 10 g besan, dry-roasted 2 minutes · 8 g mustard oil · 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste · 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder · ½ tsp turmeric · ½ tsp garam masala · ½ tsp ajwain · 1 tsp kasuri methi · 1 tbsp lemon juice · 3 g salt
- To finish: chaat masala, lemon wedges, mint chutney
Method
- Whisk the marinade ingredients until smooth and thick.
- Fold in paneer and vegetables gently. Rest 30 minutes (up to 4 hours, refrigerated).
- Thread onto skewers, alternating paneer and vegetables.
- Oven: bake on a rack over a tray at 230 °C for 12–15 minutes, turning once, until charred at the edges. Air-fryer: 200 °C for 8–10 minutes. Tawa: cook on a hot greased tawa on medium-high, 2 minutes per side.
- Sprinkle chaat masala; serve with mint chutney and lemon.
Protein optimisation
- Paneer supplies 12 g per serving, hung curd 1.5 g, besan and vegetables 1.5 g.
- Low-fat swap: low-fat paneer (check the label) saves about 70 kcal and 8 g fat per serving, with similar protein.
- Pairing: mint chutney made with 50 g hung curd adds about 3 g protein per serving.
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Malai-style — replace the chilli with white pepper and green cardamom (adding cream is optional and not counted).
- Substitution: Greek yogurt for hung curd.
- Storage: best fresh; 1 day refrigerated.
- Food safety: discard leftover marinade that touched raw paneer; don't reuse it as a dip.
- Meal prep: marinate the night before.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com