This Quick and Easy Spicy Paneer and Potato Skewers with Mint-Lime Dressing – Cooking Guide

I found with joy that the traditional Indian seasoning podi – a rough grind of searingly hot, crudely milled spices, which you combine with a little oil and use as a accompaniment for dosa or idli – is also known as “gunpowder” seasoning. It's aptly named if you were using my grandmother’s personally dried peppers, but it would be kind to say that I’m far less daring with chilli, so here I suggest red pepper flakes instead. It’s an extraordinarily good marinade for these paneer and potato skewers.

Spicy Paneer and Potato Skewers with Mint-Lime Dressing

You will need six to eight metal or wooden skewers (if made of wood, immerse them in water for 10 minutes first).

Prep 10 min
Cook half an hour
Serves 2

Four hundred grams starchy potatoes, cut into four-centimeter chunks
225g paneer, cut into 0.8-inch cubes
1 tsp coriander seeds
Half a tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
One tsp black peppercorns
One tsp chilli flakes
1½ teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus extra to serve
Two cloves of garlic, peeled and grated
Two and a half centimeters piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
about 3 tablespoons flavorless oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into eight wedges, then halved crossways

For the dressing
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
0.35 ounces fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
½ tsp flaky sea salt
One hundred grams natural yoghurt

Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes, then remove the water and allow to air dry for a minute. In the interim, put the paneer cubes in a container with heated water for 5 minutes, then remove water and dry gently.

Add the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds into a grinding bowl or mill, add the peppercorns, chilli flakes and sea salt, then pound or blitz to a rough rubble.

Place in a sizable container with the minced ginger and garlic, add the oil, then carefully mix in the ingredients to coat. Thread the vegetables and cheese on to six to eight metal or soaked wooden skewers, then place on a tray and set aside until needed – optionally, you can at this stage store in the fridge the skewers.

Beat all the sauce elements in a mixing bowl. Preheat the broiler to its highest setting, then bake the sticks for five to seven minutes on each side, until the paneer is crispy and the potatoes are getting slightly burnt. (This may take a little more or less time depending on the fierceness of your grill, so watch carefully, especially when cooking the first side.)

Present the skewers warm, scattered with a little more sea salt and the dressing alongside for dipping.