- Cut the Paneer into cubes with a height of about 3/4 an inch.
Yogurt Marinade
Normally, the Yogurt marinade follows the citrus marinade. When making tandoor paneer however, the citrus marinade isn’t really necessary. In order to efficiently multitask we start with the yogurt marinade for the paneer but NOT for the chicken. In a bowl mix the following ingredients.
- 🍵 1 cup of yogurt.
- 🥄 1 teaspoon ginger
- 🥄 1.5 teaspoons garlic
- 🥄 1 teaspoon kashmir chili
- 🥄 1.5 teaspoon salt
- 🥣 2 TableSpoons mustard oil.
Split the marinade in half. Cover the paneer cubes with the marinade on all sides. When they are coated, pop them into an air frier (As cheap as $50 in some places) and then cook them at 400 degrees Feirenheit for 6 minutes per batch.
Chicken Cuts
While the Paneer batches cook, lets work on the chicken. Some chefs aren’t particular about the chicken preparation, opting for a reasonably simple chicken preparation that pairs well with Tikka Masala. I happen to love the combination of Tandoor chicken with Tikka Masala.
- Rinse the chicken, remove the fat or buy chicken with the fat removed.
- Don’t make the slits too deep, if they slits are too deep or too close, the chicken will crumble in the curry. The more slits however, the more the flavors permeate the chicken.
Citrus Marinade
Put the chicken in a bowl. You should get a jar of garlic and a jar of ginger. Add the following ingredients:
- 🥄 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- 🥄 1/2 teaspoon of kashmir pepper.
- 🥄 1 teaspoon of ginger
- 🥄 1.5 teaspoons of garlic.
- 🥄 1 teaspoon paprika
- 🥄 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 🥣 2 TableSpoons of lemon
Mix all the ingredients together with the chicken and let the chicken marinade for 20 minutes, not longer. If you go too much longer the chicken will be too soft. When the 20 minutes are over, mix the chicken into the yogurt marinade and cover the surface area of the chicken with the yogurt marinade.
When the paneer is all cooked and set aside, start cooking the chicken in the air frier for 11 minutes a batch at 400 degrees Farenheight.
Tikka Masala
While the chicken batches are cooking lets cook the tikka masala.
- 🥣 3 TableSpoons Mustard Oil
Heat the oil on over medium heat.
- 🧅 1 onion
- 🥣 2 TableSpoons ginger
- 🥣 6 TableSpoons garlic
Sautee the onions, garlic and ginger until tender but not browned.
- 🥄 3 teaspooons cumin
- 🥄 3 teaspoons turmeric
- 🥄 3 teaspoons coriander
- 🥄 3 teaspoon paprika
- 🥄 2 teaspoons kashmiri chili
- 🥄 3 teaspoon garam masala
- 🥄 4 teaspoons salt
Add the above spices then stir for 30 seconds and you can smell the spice.
- 🍵 3.5 cups tomato puree. RESIST any and all urges to rinse the jar and pour the tomatoe water into the pot. Adding water will make you have to wait for hours to simmer the pot down to get the correct taste and consistency (saucy not soupy).
Stir in the tomatoe puree. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
- 🍵 3 cups heavy cream
Pour in the cream.
After following the menu, this is where you become a real chef. grab a spoon and taste the masala gravy. If it is too tart and tomatoe-y, add some cream. If the flavors are there but they aren’t really popping, add salt. If you feel like the flavors are too simple, uninteresting to the pallete or not exotic enough add some garam masala. Be careful with the Garam Masala, it can be easy to put too much. If its too mild without enough kick and heat, add some kashmiri chili powder. Add slowly for this as well, this can really ramp up the heat fast.
Some recipes recommend adding water to thin out the sauce, I consider that a sin. I like my Tikka masala nice, thick and flavorful.
When the gravy tastes perfect (usually after Adding more cream, salt and a pinch of garam masala to your taste)
Mix in the tandoor chicken and tandoor paneer.
- 🍵 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
When you plate the chicken tikka masala, drop the cilantro on top. Boom.
Another augmentation:
Green Bell Peppers
Sautee the green pepper on the skillet. Like so. Then add them in at the end. If you add them in early on then the flavor will average out, and you won’t have any special moments when you encounter the green bell pepper. It will taste like the rest of the tikka masala.
- 🫑1 green bell pepper sautéed with mustard oil.
