Have some leftover paneer cubes in your refrigerator or some leftover takeout paneer tikka then try out today’s recipe – Paneer tikka pulao – YUMMY and FRAGRANT !! Inspired from my previous post Paneer tikka recipe, I thought of trying this fusion and turned out to be very aromatic and flavorful dish.This one pot meal is a delicious combination of starch free rice tossed with grilled Paneer cubes and flavored with aromatic spices. I prepared this pulao in a slightly different way; instead of going the traditional way of boiling everything along with the rice I took the liberty of sauteing my veggies separately and later tossing them with cooked rice.
For this recipe you will need Paneer tikka cubes and starch free rice. Once you have these ingredients ready, from thereon the recipe is straight forward.
BREAKDOWN OF THE TOTAL TIME – 4 hours
Marinade Paneer – 3-4 hours or Overnight
Cooking rice – 20 minutes
Preparing Paneer tikka – 20 minutes
Assembling Pulao- 15 minutes
In the recipe below leftover marinade is used up to cook onions and capsicum but again that’s optional and can be skipped. Instead you can saute onions and capsicum in oil, cover and cook for 2 minutes, stir in spices and toss with cooked rice. This grainy curd which curdles from the leftover marinade gives an extra flavor to this dish. It’s aroma itself is so strong and fragrant that it will keep everyone at home guessing what’s for dinner?
Adding garam masala powder and red chili flakes at the end is again optional. It all depends on how spicy you want your pulao to be. Maintain your sodium level in this dish because salt is added at every step in this recipe – paneer tikka has salt and its marinate too has salt. When boiling your rice avoid adding salt to it and this way you can stay in control of the total salt that goes in this dish. The overall spice combination creates a wonderful aroma while cooking and the grainy curd adds an interesting mild and subtle flavor without overpowering the whole dish.
Paneer Tikka Pulao
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup Starch free rice
- 8-9 pieces of Paneer tikka
- 1 medium Onion, cubed
- 1 medium Capsicum, cubed
- 3-4 pieces of Green Cardamom
- 2-3 pieces of Whole Black Cardamom
- 1/8 -1/4 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 2-3 pieces of Bay leaves
- 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon Crushed red chili flakes (optional)
- 2 pieces of Whole red Chilies
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1/2 -1 tablespoon Chopped cilantro leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
- For this recipe marinate paneer cubes for 3-4 hours.
- Grill paneer cubes either in a pan or in the oven. Follow step by step directions in our paneer tikka recipe.
- Once toasted from all the sides, set them aside.
- Assemble: all the ingredients required for pulao.
- Have your starch free rice ready. Follow the above link to a step by step recipe of making starch free rice.
- Peel onion and deseed a capsicum. Cut them in cubes.
- Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaves, whole red chilies, cumin seeds and black and green cardamon. Pour the left over batter of paneer tikka masala and cook. Add cinnamon powder and mix. Soon you will see curd becoming all watery and grains of curd are separated. Keep stirring.
- Stir in garam masala, salt and keep sauteing till liquid is reduced to 1/4 its quantity.
- Add cubed onions and capsicum and mix.
- Cover the pan and allow it to cook for 1 minutes. Don't cook for a longer time or else they will become soggy.
- At this point the veggies will be tender and still have a lot of crunchiness left.
- To this pan add boiled rice..
- If you prefer your pulao to be spicy add red chili flakes or you may skip this part.
- Mix and gently toss the rice with vegetables and spices.
- Mix in paneer tikka cubes and gently toss to combine.
- Adjust your seasonings. This grainy curd which curdles from the leftover marinade gives an extra flavor to this dish.
- Serve hot with pickle or green chutney.
What creativity can’t even think about it.Will surely give this recipe a try.Thanks
Thanks Vinita!! Do give it a try and share your experience.
I have always wanted to make paneer tikka recipes – it’s my favorite. I would probably eat this whole bowl of pulao all by myself. YUM! Everything you make looks yummy and your photos are always tempting and drool worthy!
Aww, thanks so much, Shairy for your lovely comments!Paneer tikka pulao is no doubt very tasty and my family favorite!!
Howdy! I just wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the great recipe you’ve got here on this post. I love Indian cuisnie but because of its lengthy process I back off. But yesterday I got paneer tikka from an Indian grocery store and made the effort to try Panner tikka Pulao. It was so delicious. Thanks for explaining it so well. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon. Thanks Marilee.
That’s great to know Marliee. Thanks you for such a lovely feedback. Glad you like the recipe. Will see you around on the blog 🙂
Looks good and temping. Your recipes pics are so tastefully and artistically clicked that I drool over them. Can’t take my eyes off, fynny part I always visit your website, look at the tasty recipe, close my eyes and get that taste in my mouth. In my virtual world I just made this dish and tasted it and my 2 cents – Lastingly tasty 😉
That’s so sweet of you Savita and thanks for such a lovely comment, you really cracked me up 😉
Drooling over on your paneer tikka pulav it looks so so, yummmmmmmy. I totally like the idea of cooking paneer tikka in a pan, so scared of grilling it, what if it burned or get ruined. I believe pan cooking gives me more control. Thanks for sharing this recipe, will try it out this weekend! Must say what a delicious combo of flavors and great presentation!
You are welcome Sireesha. Don’t worry grill paneer tikka in an oven and maintain the temperature mentioned in the recipe and you are good to go.Keep checking and turning them at regular intervals and they will not burn 🙂 . Sure give it a try and if possible share your experience with me!!
Made it for a potluck and every body was amazed at my creativity. People just loved it. Thanks Ruchi
You are welcome Ritika. 🙂
I am always in search of yummy and new recipes and your blog is quite a refreshing one, though it still misses a lot of traditional Indian recipes. But I just love your blog and pictures. Tried Paneer tikka pulao, well explained and that made my work much easier.Thanks dear, keep posting and we will continue to enjoy!
Thanks for your feedback Sabina! I agree the new blog doesn’t have the old RK site recipes. I am in the process of bringing them all back to this new site in a pictorial format and that’s going to take some time. Thanks for trying out the recipe and I am glad you liked it. 🙂
Ruchi, just finished eating this pulao and everyone is thanking me for such a yummy preparation. Was bored of making dal everyday and for a change made your paneer tikka pulao. Yummy recipe with great flavors. Everything is very open with a really clear description of the dish. It was definitely very helpful. Many thanks for sharing!
Thank you for such a wonderful comment. Glad to hear that you liked the recipe. 🙂 Keep checking back for more!
Ordered some Paneer tikka from an Indian restaurant. Had leftover an had no idea how to use it. I googled and came across your recipe. Tried and all eaten. Skipped the cooking part, tossed it with Indian store white baasamati rice, threw in few spices and it was perfect. Thanks for giving me a wonderful recipe.
You are welcome Aubrey and welcome to the blog! Glad it worked out well for you. Keep checking back for more updates. 🙂
This recipe looks promising and I am surely going to try this recipe for Diwali. BTW your boondi… sweet one came out sooooooooo delicious and crunchy. It is a long method but my family is loving it. It was gone in one day….wish it could last for few more days.
Sweet boondi is very addicting and I can totally relate to that Rupal. 🙂 Thanks for trying out the recipe!!