🔗 Share this article

One found with joy that the south Indian spice mix podi – a rough grind of intensely spicy, roughly ground spices, which you mix with a little oil and use as a accompaniment for dosa or idli – is also known as “gunpowder” spice mix. This is accurate if you were using my grandmother’s personally dried peppers, but it would be generous to say that I’m far less adventurous with chilli, so here I suggest crushed chilies instead. It’s an remarkably tasty marinade for these paneer and potato skewers.

Spicy Paneer and Potato Skewers with Mint-Lime Dressing

Prepare six to eight skewers made of metal or wood (if bamboo, soak them in water for 10 minutes first).

Prep a quick 10 minutes
Cook half an hour
Serves two people

400g firm potatoes, cut into four-centimeter chunks
8 ounces paneer, cubed into 0.8-inch cubes
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp chilli flakes
One and a half tsp flaky sea salt, with more for serving
Two garlic cloves, prepared and minced
Two and a half centimeters piece fresh ginger, prepared and minced
Forty milliliters neutral oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into eight wedges, then sliced across

For the dressing
Zest and juice from one lime, finely grated
0.35 ounces fresh mint leaves, diced small
Half a teaspoon flaky sea salt
One hundred grams natural yoghurt

Cook the potatoes for 9 minutes, then remove the water and let them dry from steam for a minute. In the interim, put the paneer cubes in a pot of hot water for 5 minutes, then drain and pat dry.

Pour the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds into a grinding bowl or mill, add the salt, chili flakes, and peppercorns, then crush or grind to a rough rubble.

Tip into a medium-large bowl with the shredded aromatics, add the oil, then lightly combine with the ingredients to coat. Skewer the vegetables and cheese on to the prepared skewers, then transfer to a baking sheet and reserve for later – optionally, you can at this stage store in the fridge the skewers.

Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing in a container. Preheat the broiler to its maximum heat, then grill the skewers for five to seven minutes on each side, until the paneer is browned and the potatoes are starting to char. (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.)

Offer the grilled sticks immediately, sprinkled with a little more sea salt and the dressing alongside for dipping.