Paneer Bbq. sticks

We had a barbeque party in June. This was our first attempt at hosting a barbeque party and hence I was a little nervous about hosting it . Will the food cook properly , will everyone like the seasonings …etc etc. To add to my jitters was the fact that one of the guests was a complete vegetarian who would not have even touched something which was even near any meat.

I had a number of recipes for meats…but what to make for a vegetarian…what would look great and taste even better. I mulled over this question for a number of days and then one day while browsing through my recipe collection I came across a recipe that I had noted down from a book sometime back. The original recipe was for chicken, I decided to use it with paneer and add some colorful vegetables to make this lovely looking bbq sticks.

I have the pictures of the sticks before we barbequed them, they were consumed before I could click a snap. …and that in itself proves that this was a successful experiment :-)

I hope to make these more often, now that we are confident that we can indeed host a barbeque party successfully. Our friends have been asking us about the next party already J so hopefully I will have more recipes to post in the near future and this time I will click a snap before I allow anyone to eat it ;-)

Ingredients (makes about 9 medium sized sticks)

Paneer / cottage cheese – 400 grams
Red/ Green bell pepper –1 large sized one/ each color
White onion – 2 medium sized ones
Lime – 3-4 depending on size
Bamboo skewers – 9- 10

For marinade –
For paneer/ cottage cheese
Crushed fenugreek seeds – 2 t sp
Amchoor powder / dry mango powder – 2 t sp
Garam masala – 2 t sp
Finely grated ginger – 4 t sp
Finely grated garlic – 4 t sp
Chili powder – 2 t sp

Turmeric – 1 t sp
Ground cumin powder – 2 t sp
Ground coriander powder – 2 t sp
Low fat yogurt – 300 ml
Oil - 1 t sp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Salt – as per taste

For vegetables –

Olive oil – 1 tb sp
Lime juice – 1-2 tb sp (depending on sourness)
Ground pepper powder (black or white) -1 t sp
Salt – as per taste

Slice the cottage cheese into 1-inch cubes. Dice the bell peppers, onions into squares of 1 inch. Separate each layer of the white onion.

Dry roast the crushed fenugreek seeds, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala, till fragrant. Then blend all the marinade ingredients in a blender. Pour over the cottage cheese cubes. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Then marinate the vegetables with the olive oil, limejuice, pepper powder and salt. Keep aside for 15-30 mins. Also soak the bamboo skewers in water (this prevents them from burning while barbequing)

Then thread the vegetables and cottage cheese, alternating them, as you like. Once all the skewers are done, cook them on a medium hot grill or charcoal. Turn to the other side when one side is cooked or slightly charred.
Sprinkle lemon juice on the ready sticks and serve hot with mint chutney।

This is my entry for MM-Grill It hosted by Sig of Live to Eat