Paneer Tikka Masala | Paneer Tikka Masala Gravy Restaurant Style | 4.60/5.0

Best Occasion to Prepare this Recipe

Having people over at home? Hosting a party? Or just feel like loading up on sugar, spice and everything nice? 😉 North Indian Cuisine offers innumerable choices of gravy varieties to pick from and all of them enriched by their own unique combination of spices.

Paneer Tikka Masala otherwise a.k.a Malai Paneer Tikka is a popular vegetarian paneer gravy prepared using juicy ripe tomatoes, fresh hung curd, and paneer marinated in yogurt paste with spices. Paneer is grilled/broiled/pan-fried until golden and added to the gravy sauce to soak up the flavor, finally, a dash of cream is all it needs!

The prep time on this dish is nearly 1-1.5hrs with a total cook time of 2hours since there are two parts to this recipe – Paneer Tikka and Masala prep.

PS: Paneer Tikka Masala pairs great with Tandoori Rotis, Naan (plain/garlic/butter), Pulkas, plain Parathas, Kulcha, Jeera Rice or plain Biryani Rice

My Top Recipe Recommendations

• Veg Recipes of India – Paneer Tikka Masala
  • Pickometer Score 4.6/5.0 this recipe is very close to what you find in Restaurants. Also, check out the different Tandoor Paneer Tikka recipes on this page!
• Indian Healthy Recipes Paneer Tikka Masala Recipe
  • Pickometer Score 4.5/5.0 love their Tawa Preparation of Paneer Tikka. The description is very detailed with some useful tips and pointers
• Sanjeev Kapoor’s Paneer Tikka Masala Recipe
• Nisha Madhulika’s Paneer Tikka Masala Recipe
  • Pickometer Score 4.2/5.0 Simple and Inspired

My Improv & Notes

I improvised over the best Paneer Tikka Masala recipe out there, i.e, Veg Recipes of India’s. Here are my improvs/notes over the recipe:

• As you might have read in many blogs already- try using sweet, ripe tomatoes (if not, add in 1/2 tsp tomato ketchup for sweetness), fresh hung curd (not sour) and Paneer prepared at home. If you purchased Paneer from a store, soak it in a bowl filled with hot water and add in a pinch of turmeric- it’ll soften the texture of Paneer
• Marinate the Paneer in spicy yogurt sauce for minimum of an hour before broiling it. It is best to leave it in the marinade overnight
• Apply extra marinade to the paneer before grilling them. Use any remaining marinade sauce in your gravy
• Dont overcook the Paneer as they turn rubbery and stretchy. You don’t wanna chew hard and not enjoy the taste of fresh soft paneer
• You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of paprika powder to the gravy sauce for a deep red/orange color
• Try using Shaahi Jeera in butter for tempering and let me know!

Restaurants Serving Best Paneer Tikka Masala in Bay Area

• Mirch Masala
• Little India Cafe
• Swaad Indian Cuisine
• Zareen’s
• Great Indian Cuisine