Jono & Jules do food & wine

We recently acquired a recipe book called Prashad: Indian Vegetarian Cooking (thanks Mum). You might remember Prashad as Gordon Ramsay’s best restaurant runner-up on TV a couple of years ago. This is the first recipe we tried from the book and is guaranteed to make your veggie friends happy at your next summer barbecue. Vegetarians often get a bum deal at barbecues, palmed off with a few peppers and onions skewered on a stick. These should right all your past wrong-doings.

Paneer is an Indian unsalted white cheese with a crumbly texture and mild taste that  goes really well with strong flavours and marinades. You can buy it in supermarkets as well as specialist Asian shops.

These are very easy to make but you need to marinade the night before!

Drinks Suggestion: We enjoyed this with both a lager and a citrus-laden Blonde Ale; fresh and summery.

Paneer Tikka – makes 6 skewers 

• 2 x 250 blocks of paneer cheese
• 1 medium red pepper,cut into 6 chunky pieces
• 1 medium green pepper, cut into 6 chunky pieces
• 1 medium onion, cut into 6 wedges
• 2 lemons, quartered to serve

MARINADE: 

• 2-3 green chillies, seeds left in
• 4-8 garlic cloves
• 2 handfuls of fresh coriander, chopped fine
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp garam masala 
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp trumeric
• 2 tbsp plain live yogurt
• 100ml sunflower oil

Finely chop the chillies and garlic then tip into a large bowl and add the other marinade ingredients.

Cut each block of cheese into 9 equal-sized cubes and add to the marinade along with the pepper and onion pieces. Stir to coat, then cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

Thread 6 skewers with 3 pieces of cheese seperated by pieces of pepper and onion. Cook the skewers over a hot barbecue for 20 minutes, until slightly charred, turning every 4-5 minutes.

Serve with the lemon quarters, a green salad and some cucumber and yogurt dip.

(Original recipe from Kaushy Patel’s Prashad: Indian Vegetarian Cooking, Saltyard Books 2012.)