Recipe: Grilled Indian Cheese & Veggie Platter

For all you veggies looking for a break from the usual fare and the meat-eaters who think veggie food can’t be tasty, here’s a delicious and nutritious, yet incredibly simple recipe to try! It’s perfect for a light Sunday evening dinner with some plain rice and daal  (lentil soup) or as a starter when you have guests to impress. Just make sure you have at least an hour of marination time on your hands!

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

200 – 300g Paneer or Indian cottage cheese diced into 1 inch cubes

Assorted veggies e.g.:

200g button mushrooms (chop off stems and leave whole)

3-4 Small to medium sized potatoes, par-boiled and with jacket on, cut into thick slices

2 peppers cut into 1-inch squares

2 tomatoes cut into thick slices

Other veggies you can add: broccoli, onions, babycorn

For the marinade (hint: if you don’t have all of the masalas mentioned, you can make do with just garam masala and cumin powder):

250-300g plain Indian/Greek yogurt (hung curd)

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

3/4 tsp black salt

1/2 tsp amchur/mango powder

1 tbsp jeera/cumin powder

Dash of pepper and salt to taste

Chaat masala to season

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade well. Make sure the mixture is slightly salty to taste as we’re not going to separately salt the veggies.
2. Mix in the veggies. To avoid breaking the veggies and to make sure they are coated properly, it’s usually best to add the veggies and marinade into a large bowl, layer by layer. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for an hour or two.

   

   

    

3. Grill until golden brown, turning every few minutes and brushing lightly with oil. The best results come with using an open grill or gas-top grilling pan rather than an oven grill so that the water in the marinade can easily evaporate. Keep the pan on medium to low flame (you may need to alternate the flame every now and then because the marinade can tend to burn easily).
4. Season with chaat masala and voilà! Grilled veggies are ready to be served (on a bed of lettuce leaves if desired).