Paneer Kabobs

This weekend in Michigan we had the most gorgeous weather. For a change, it was HOT. And enjoy it we did, with a huge barbeque right in our townhouse complex. All of Shankar's friends in the Business School who hadn't left for the summer came out in full force. For the bbq, Shankar contributed his famous Paneer Kabobs. He made them before in the oven with the regular wooden sticks soaked in water. But then we found this incredible contraption at Target on clearance for 5 dollars. It is a square metal stand with grooves on the side to horizontally hold 5 metal skewers with a little ring at the end of each for turning. It sits right on top of your grill, or alternatively on a tray in your oven. This is a great idea as it prevents the marinade from sticking to your grill or tray.


We've done this at parties, and now a bbq and they are always a hit! You can soak the vegetables and paneer in the marinade overnight as well. The following recipe is for a large batch of kabobs. We made at least 25-30 kabobs with this. Keep the vegetables fairly large so they are easy to skewer and don't disintegrate into the grill.


Marinade
1 bunch cilantro, 2 tbsp dhania jeera powder OR 1 tbsp dhania seeds and 1 tbsp jeera seeds, 1 onion, 1 large green chili, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp anardhana, 1 tsp amchur, 1 tbsp minced ginger, salt, 1 cup yogurt

Kabobs
2 blocks paneer cubed, a few tomatoes cut into large chunks OR large cherry tomatoes, 2 green peppers cut into 2" pieces, 1 package mushrooms (stems removed), 1 onion cut into 2" pieces, 1 1 cup of cauliflower florets, 1 zucchini cut into large round slices

1. Grind all the ingredients together for the marinade. You can add a little water, but keep it quite thick.
2. Soak all the vegetables and paneer in the marinade overnight (optional).
3. Skewer the vegetetables, and brush more marinade on the vegetables.
4. The grill should be quite hot. Grill them on both sides till they char around the edges. Or broil in the oven until slightly blackened.


Serve plain or with chutney!

Verdict: This was a hit, we had people running up to grab the pieces off the plates. They ended up being 'share' plates!