Paneer Taka Tak is popular street food in India. Make this spicy, finger-licking, easy paneer recipe at home that comes together in just 15 to 20 mins. You can have this tawa paneer as a side dish with chapatis, breads, pulao, or biryani varieties.

Table of Contents:
About Paneer Taka Tak
Paneer Taka Tak (Paneer Tak-a-Tak) is popular street food. If paneer bhurji and pav bhaji got together and had a love child, it would be Paneer Taka Tak.
It is made on a large tawa over a high flame on the street side stalls, just like how pav bhaji is made. So in some places, this dish is also called Tawa Paneer.
In place of using crumbled paneer and mashing the vegetables together, I have used paneer & capsicum cubes and kept them as such.
The Paneer Taka Tak can be had either as a snack or as dinner.
Ingredients
Paneer: I have used store-bought paneer that I had cut into cubes. You can also use homemade paneer, either cubed or crumbled.
Vegetables: You need onions, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, green chilli, capsicum and coriander leaves.
Spices: I have used ajwain (bishop’s weed or carom seeds) for seasoning. You will also need spice powders like red chilli, coriander, turmeric, pav bhaji and garam masala powder.
Other ingredients: kasuri methi, sugar, curd, lemon juice, salt to taste and oil to cook.
Please refer to the recipe card for the correct measurement of ingredients.
How to make Paneer Taka Tak
1. Heat a pan with oil and temper with ajwain.
2. Add onion, ginger garlic paste and green chillies and sauté till pink.
3. Add tomatoes and cook till it turns mushy.
4. Add spice powders, salt and mix well to combine.
5. Add curd, capsicum, paneer and mix well.
6. Sprinkle little water, and add kasuri methi and sugar. Mix well and cook for a few mins and switch off the stove.
7. Add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve this paneer taka tak piping hot.
Recipe Notes
As we use both the green chillies and red chilli powder along with pav bhaji and garam masala, make sure to adjust the quantity based on your spice level.
You need to use fresh curd and not sour curd as it will change the taste of the dish.
Nutrition Profile
This recipe is
- Diabetic-Friendly
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- High Fibre
- High Protein
- Low Carb
- Nut Free
- Soy-Free
- Vegetarian
Variations
To make it richer - you can use butter for cooking the entire dish instead of oil and or you can also use a combination of both.
vegan - you can use tofu instead of paneer and replace the curd with either vegan yoghurt or cashew paste.
You can also check out this Moong Sprouts Pav Bhaji that tastes equally delicious.
Shelf Life
You can store Paneer Taka Tak fresh in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days before the taste and flavour start to change.
Reheat the dish either in a microwave or on the stovetop before serving.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this as a side dish to both rice and flatbreads.
If you are game, you can also use this as a stuffing to make kathi roll or a sandwich or as a stuffing to make masala dosa.
Serve this paneer taka tak with pav buns just like how you serve pav bhaji.
FAQs
Even though only capsicum other than onions and tomatoes are used, to make it more nutrient-dense, you can add other vegetables like crumbled potato, peas, carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, spinach and cauliflower.
Paneer taka tak is a thick and semi-solid gravy. So do not add more water than absolutely necessary. It should be easy to scoop with bread or chapathis while eating.
More Street Food
Related Recipes
See more Paneer Recipes
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If you have tried this recipe & have any more queries, send an email to ticklingpalates@gmail.com
Recipe
Paneer Taka Tak - Tawa Paneer
Ingredients
- 200 gms paneer cubed
- 1 capsicum cubed
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon pav bhaji masala powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 2 tablespoon thick curd
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ajwain
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon butter optional
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon coriander leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a pan with oil. When hot, add ajwain and let them sizzle.
- Add onions and sauté till they turn pink. Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Sauté for 1 min, or till the raw smell leaves.
- Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt to help cook them faster. Sauté and cook till the tomatoes become mushy. This should take 2 mins.
- Now add the spice powders - red chilli, coriander, turmeric, garam masala and pav bhaji masala powder.
- Add salt and mix well to combine. The mixture will become slightly dry as the spice powders will absorb the moisture.
- Add curd and once again mix well.
- Add capsicum and paneer cubes. Mix well to combine.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoon of water, kasuri methi and sugar. Mix well and cook for 2 to 3 mins over low flame. Switch off the stove. Add a dollop of butter, if using.
- Add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.
- Mix well and serve this Paneer Taka Tak with any flatbreads or pulao or biryani.
Priya Purush
Good Day Radhika, Today for breakfast I made this dish and your paneer paratha. It was so good. The pinch of ajwain was just right, for even i dont like the flavour of ajwain much. I am very happy today because this is the first dish i had cooked other than my normal sambar, koottu and poriyal. It is the snap which made me to try this dish of all the other paneer dishes you had posted. I will never be able to explain in words how much it means to me to be cooking like this. Thank you so much and my heart felt thanks for making me cook, cos it is something which my MIL was not able to achieve even after 5 years of my marriage.
Radhika
That is the sweetest compliment I have ever received so far and thanks a lot for your kind words Priya. It is me who must be thanking you for making my day.
Magic of Spice
This looks wonderful! Anything with paneer is all good in my book 🙂
Jay
wat a wonderful combination..looks so delicious in your photo..I almost feel I can take a bite..;P
Megha Sarin
WOW! The color of the paneer says it all. Mind blowing
Jagruti
mouthwatering...lovely colour too:-)
Varshini Sudharsan
hi radhika...this looks so yummy...gr8 photos...very colorful...:)
Neha
very nice and colorful looking paneer...
Jaleela Kamal
கலரை பார்த்தாலே வாயூறுது ராதிகா
Uma
The colour of the paneer looks very attractive radhika. I finish this in no time. looks tempting.
sangee vijay
mouth watering here...looks too tempting dear...will make it soon 🙂
Sukanya Ramkumar
Lovely looking panner dish. Nice recipe. Mouthwatering color to the dish. YUM!
Suja
Mouthwatering here..yum
Archana
looks so yummy. Lovely pictures. Thanks for a recipe where rotis will also disappear tak-tak.
Shree
Saw the pic and thought Burji.. looks soo yumm 🙂
Sukanya
Oh..this looks so gorgeous and colorful, am up for all kind of tawa dishes.
Charu Srivastava
delicious...finger licking good
Anjali Shukla
What an article and what a recipe, too! I loved the name of the recipe the most, though...' Tak-a -tak'...haha... 😀
This is like Paneer Bhaji instead of Paav Bhaji and what a twist I admit; fantabulous!! 🙂
The color is beautiful, the clicks perfect and the feel gratifying.
jeyashrisuresh
very colorful and tempting dish.
Ramya Manja
Wow I always love paneer ,tawa paneer sounds new to me...Inviting color...
Princy Vinoth
looks beautiful!
Chandrani
Paneer looks tangy and yummy...
Anonymous
Thanks for the informative article, it was a good read and I hope its ok that I share this with some facebook friends. Thanks.
Hemavathi Murari
superb paneer dish. bookmarked.
Kaveri
Looks so yummy! Bookmarking it right away.
Roshu
hey lovely and yummy recipe.....
superb clicks!!!
Meena
intersting. being from mumbai i havent had this dish before. almost like paneer bhurji with a differnce..
Ramya
What a colorful dish!! I wud love to hav it with some Roti's:-)
Kalyani
looks good Radhika..
Priya
Slurp,mouthwatering here..Wat a terrific and super tempting tawa paneer..
faseela
attractrive color....superb recipe
Priti
Looks so yum n colourful ...