Tandoori Tofu & Tandoori Chicken

Good morning friends! As most of you might know, my in-laws reached here on (early morning) Tuesday and I've been pretty busy with them most of the time. They are getting used to the weather and schedule in the US despite their jet-lag and fatigue! We have been to some nearby parks and malls already!! I apologise for not visiting your blogs everyday as I used to (I still do on alternate days!). I guess you all could understand that it would get hectic when you have family visting. Anyways, I am hoping to post regularly like this throughout their visit. We've already made a few traditional Kerala recipes about which I will be posting soon. Thanks a lot for the support shown for my earlier posts.

Coming back to the recipes, we actually grilled these tikkas some time back along with the Chicken tikkas. I had substituted tofu for paneer in the recipe for Tandoori paneer. Eventhough I knew that JM hates tofu (I have a strong dislike too), I wanted to give it another try. I thought the tandoor marinade would mask the distaste that we feel and make it something that we could accept without much fuss. The marination is kind of short (3 hours) when compared to overnight marination for non-veg stuff. I bought the firm tofu available at the grocers and the veggies mentioned and marinated them in the spices for 3 hours. After grilling, we thoroughly enjoyed the tandoori veggies, but the tofu, not so much. Infact JM was not at all willing to try, since he had told me earlier on about his dislike. I tried to enjoy it, but again, it wasnt something that my palate agreed with. I wished I had followed the recipe exactly and bought paneer too!!

Verdict :

Anyways, the marinade is EXCELLENT. Use paneer for this recipe and it would be an awesome tikka for sure. The marinade would also be perfect for just a veggies-only tikka as we thoroughly enjoyed the bell peppers and tomatoes skewered with the tofu. For those who have a seasoned palate for tofu, go ahead and enjoy an Indian treat with soy cheese!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Paneer/Tofu - 11 oz
Green bell peppers - 2
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 2 firm
Thick plain yoghurt - 1 1/4 cups
Ground turmeric - 1 tsp
Ginger - 3/4", grated
Garlic cloves - 4, crushed
Lemon juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
Mint leaves - 2 tbsp
Chopped cilantro - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

Cut the tofu/paneer into cubes.

Cut the capsicums into squares, the onion into chunks and the tomatoes into cubes.

Mix the yoghurt, turmeric, ginger, garlic and lemon juice, together with a little salt, in a large bowl.

Stir in the herbs.

Add the paneer and vegetables, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Preheat the grill (broiler) to its highest setting.

Using 8 skewers, thread onto each, 5 pieces of paneer/tofu and some capsicum, onion and tomato.

Brush with the oil, season with salt.

Grill (broil) on all sides for 3-4 minutes, or until the paneer/tofu and vegetables are cooked and slightly charred around the edges.

Serve hot.

Source: The Food of India by Priya Wickramasinghe.

I am sending this Tandoori tofu to the "JFI : Soya event" over at Sia's Passionate about Life 'n Spice.

Recipe :

Tandoori chicken - check out my Chicken tikkas post for detailed recipe and tips.

I used a cut-up whole chicken (bone-in) and trimmed them into slightly smaller pieces and used the same marinade as for the Chicken tikkas. Due to our inexperience in grilling, they didn't get cooked completely, which was made right by popping it in the oven for about 15 minutes. I think that without the grill, the Tandoori Chicken would be probably done in about 30 minutes or so in the oven. Look for signs of charring on the sides of the chicken and the juices would run clear when pierced. The oven temperatures and other suggestions are given in the Chicken tikka post. The picture actually shows a boneless whole chicken breast that I cut out of the bone-in chicken.

The Tandoori Chicken is on its way to "Monthly Mingle : Grill It! Summer Fun" event at Sig's Live to Eat. Here's a couple more of pictures.

I am happy to pass on a beautiful award bestowed upon me by a few of my dear blogger friends. Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen, Skribles of Food with a pinch of love and EC of Simple Indian Food passed on the "Blogging Friends Forever" award to me. Thanks a lot friends!! I really am happy and honored to receive these awards from you guys!! Thanks a lot!

I would like to pass these onto,

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Maheswari of Beyond the Usual

Vandana of Cooking up something nice

Laavanya of Cookery Corner

Sonu from Melbourne, Australia, who is new to my blog, but is a very enthusiastic and ardent supporter of my blog and I !!

Thanks to each and everyone of you, for supporting me. Have a great weekend!!

Paneer Tikka Masala

I would like to share with you the joy of completing 50 posts on my blog ! I am very happy that I was able to do that many in 2 1/2 months. Blogging has definitely renewed my passion for cooking and baking. Cant wait to see what the rest of the year will bring! With that happy note, I am posting the recipe for Paneer Tikka Masala.

Indian cuisine is characterised by a delicate play of a variety of spices, and combining them to produce unique flavors. The differences in the local cuisine in India is also well-defined regionally. Indian food is gaining prominence world-wide and Westerners have developed a palate for Indian dishes. The famous Indian dishes include the most sought-after tandoor dishes like tandoori chicken, tikka masalas and breads like naan. The different tikka masalas offer the flavor of tandoori spices in a rich thick gravy which goes perfectly well with Indian breads. I came across this recipe on Neha's Tasty recipes. Thanks to Neha for letting me post this on my blog. I had made some paneer at home and what could be better than making paneer tikka masala with my home-made paneer!? Isn't this a reason to love lip-smacking Indian food!? The recipe posted here is the adapted version of the recipe. Neha's recipe mentions pureeing the onions before cooking. But that never seems to work well for me, so I pureed the onions after cooking it. We all enjoyed the result and I would definitely make this again. The paneer can be replaced with chicken grilled with tandoori spices to make chicken tikka masala. The final verdict: loooooooved it!!

Recipe:

Paneer - 200 gms

Marinade:

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Chaat masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Plain yoghurt - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Red food color - a pinch (optional)

For the masala gravy:

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Yellow onions - 2 medium, finely chopped
Roma tomatoes - 3 medium
Cashewnuts - 8 whole nuts
Butter - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 3/4 tsp
Kasoori methi - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Chopped coriander leaves - for garnish

Method:

Cut the paneer into large cubes.

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade and coat the paneer evenly.

Marinate for 45 minutes in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, blach the tomatoes by putting them in boiling water until their skins rupture.

Take them out and remove the skin.

Puree the tomatoes in a food processor.

Heat oil in a pan and add the paneer cubes.

Shallow fry until the cubes are somewhat crisp all around. Keep aside.

In the same pan, heat butter and add the cumin seeds.

Once the cumin turns golden brown, add the finely chopped onions and cashewnut paste.

Saute until the onion is somewhat brown and then add the ginger-garlic paste.

Stir the mixture until it becomes fragrant.

Now add the dry spice powders except kasoori methi and cook until fragrant.

Pour the tomato puree into the pan and stir well until the gravy thickens.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

When cool, puree the onion-tomato masala in the food processor until smooth.

Transfer the puree back to the pan, and bring back to a simmer.

Add the kasoori methi and stir in.

Prick the paneer cubes in the center with a fork.

Toss them into the gravy and cook until slightly tender.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot.

Tips:

1. I added a pinch of red food color both to the marinade and the gravy.
2. I added a tbsp of half-n-half to the gravy at the final step. Adding heavy cream would make it even tastier.
3. I would probably use more cashewnuts next time, for a richer flavor.
4. Click here for know-how on home-made paneer.