🔗 Share this article

I found with joy that the traditional Indian seasoning podi – a rubble of searingly hot, crudely milled spices, which you mix with a little oil and use as a accompaniment for dosa or idli – is also known as “gunpowder” blend. This is accurate if you were using my grandmother’s homemade dried chilies, but it would be charitable to say that I’m far less daring with chilli, so here I suggest crushed chilies instead. It’s an exceptionally great marinade for these paneer and potato skewers.

Gunpowder Paneer and Potato Skewers with Mint-Lime Dressing

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

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Serves a couple

14 ounces firm potatoes, cut into 1.5-inch chunks
8 ounces paneer, cubed into 0.8-inch cubes
One tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
One tsp black peppercorns
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1½ teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus extra to serve
Two cloves of garlic, prepared and minced
Two and a half centimeters piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Forty milliliters mild oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into eight wedges, then sliced across

For the dressing
Zest and juice from one lime, finely grated
Ten grams fresh mint leaves, minced
½ tsp flaky sea salt
3.5 ounces natural yoghurt

Simmer the potatoes for 9 minutes, then remove the water and allow to air dry for a minute. In the interim, put the paneer cubes in a bowl of boiling water for five minutes, then remove water and dry gently.

Tip the spice seeds into a pestle and mortar or blender, add the peppercorns, chilli flakes and sea salt, then mash or process to a chunky blend.

Transfer to a medium-large bowl with the grated garlic and ginger, add the oil, then gently stir in the cubed paneer, cooked potatoes and red onions to coat. Skewer the vegetables and cheese on to six to eight metal or soaked wooden skewers, then place on a tray and keep ready – if desired, you can at this stage wrap and chill the skewers.

Stir all the ingredients for the dressing in a medium bowl. Preheat the broiler to its highest setting, then bake the sticks for a short time on each side, until the paneer is browned and the potatoes are beginning to blacken. (This may take a different amount of time depending on the fierceness of your grill, so monitor closely, especially when cooking the first side.)

Serve the skewers hot, scattered with a little more flaky salt and the accompaniment for drizzling.