Homemade Paneer Grilled Kabobs in Spicy & Tangy Moroccan Chermoula Sauce served with Easy and Quick Homemade Naan
We have started a tradition in our family that we will celebrate the start of a new week with a grand Meatless Mondays feast. Everyone in my household usually has the Mondays Blues. Since I can’t change the fact that we all have to face the dreaded Monday, I can however change how we eat on a Monday!
It’s a challenge for me to think of vegetarian recipes which my family of 3 males who are carnivores, will get excited over. It’s tough but I am up for the challenge. Trust me you will feel liberated that your main ingredient of the dish is not any type of meat protein, instead the star of the dish is a vegetable, lentils or beans or tasty cheeses & pastas.
My kids love kabobs, especially the grilled beef , chicken & shrimp shish kabobs. So I started thinking about our upcoming Meatless Mondays feast and wanted to surprise my kids and hubby with a shish kabob dinner which was healthy & hearty yet was as delicious as the {meat version}. I came up with this paneer kabob recipe which I wanted to give a lot of flavor & spice with the spicy & flavorful Moroccan Chermoula sauce. My kids were familiar with the flavors of Chermoula sauce which they were introduced to on our last trip to Morocco.
Chermoula is a pungent Moroccan herb sauce traditionally served with grilled fish. I think it’s great with all sorts of other dishes, such as roasted eggplant, roasted potatoes, swordfish or chicken. Chermoula sauce is equally good in a couscous dish too. I made my Chermoula sauce in my favorite mortar & pestle.
We usually enjoy Kebobs with flatbreads like Naan, Pita or Turkish Pide. I heart flatbreads and love making them at home. There is something nurturing about making your own bread and serving it hot to your family!
I started thinking about making Naan with our kabob dinner. I usually make my Naan with a yeast dough which needs to rise for at least 3-4 hours, then I roll out the Naan and then let it sit for another thirty minutes before I broil or bake them in the oven. By the way check out my two friends Nadia & Prerna’s awesome homemade naan recipes and there posts motivated me!
My Easy & Quick Homemade Naan recipe ONLY has six ingredients; flour, milk, olive oil, sugar, salt & baking powder. I also brush the Naan with melted butter & sprinkle on sesame seeds right before I put them under the broiler.
Basically I knead the dough for ten minutes, cover and let it rest for about one hour max in a warm spot in the kitchen. After one hour you are ready to roll out the Naan and enjoy them hot. I make the Naan under the broiler set on high and it only takes about 2 -3 minutes for Naan to be ready.
Paneer is a fresh cheese made by souring hot milk with a little lemon juice and then pressing out the liquid until it becomes a firm mass. The process is simple and quick. I usually drain the the whey in cheesecloth which I place inside a colander. When paneer is pressed under a heavy weight for an hour or two, it firms up and becomes condensed and is easy to cut into cubes for numerous recipes like Spinach recipe called Palak Paneer or Tandoori Paneer Tikka. I love serving Tandoori Paneer Tikka for appetizers when I throw a dinner party.
RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE PANEER KABOBS IN SPICY & TANGY MOROCCAN CHERMOULA SAUCE SERVED WITH QUICK & EASY HOMEMADE NAAN
Ingredients for Paneer Kabobs in Moroccan Chermoula Sauce:
Homemade Paneer:
Ingredients:
- 1 gallon whole milk
- 6-8 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Method for Homemade Paneer:
- Place a colander lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl.
- In a large heavy non stick pot, boil the milk on a medium heat.
- Add the lemon juice. Curd with start to form.
- Drain the curd mixture in the colander/cheesecloth
- Rinse the curd briefly under slow-running water to remove the lemon taste.
- Gather the edges together, squeeze the excess water, then knot together the cheesecloth and let it sit in the colander . Let it sit for 20 minutes.
- To make the cheese dense for cutting into cubes; place a heavy object over the paneer for about an hour.
- Cut into bite size one inch square pieces for Kabobs.
Moroccan Chermoula Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1-2 teaspoons toasted cumin seeds, crushed or ground
- 1 fresh red chile, seeded & crushed
- 1 freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, some extra for grilling
- a small bunch of cilantro, crushed or chopped
Method:
- Crush all of the ingredients in a mortar & pestle or a food processor.
- You can make extra and store in air tight jar in the fridge for few weeks.
Method for marinating & grilling the kabobs:
- Take the Paneer cubes and add the Chermoula Sauce. Marinate for 10 minutes.
- Place the Paneer cubes on skewers and grape tomatoes, alternate paneer & tomatoes or any vegetable of your choice.
- Heat a grill pan on medium and coat it with olive oil.
- Grill the Paneer Kabobs for a minute on each side.
- Brush on some extra Chermoula Sauce over the Kebobs and cover to keep warm.
RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE NAAN
makes 6-8
Ingredients:
- 3 cups of Organic Bread Flour
- 1 cup of warm milk {extra if needed}
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 teaspoons melted butter
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, white & black
Method:
- Sift the flour and add the dry ingredients and mix
- add the oil and milk, knead for 10 minutes. add more milk to the dough if you feel its dry.
- cover and let the dough sit in a warm place in your kitchen for one hour.
- Turn the broiler on High and place a metal cookie sheet tray coated with oil under the broiler {not too close to the burners}
- Once the dough is rested for one hour, cut it up in 6-8 equal parts
- Roll out the dough into Naan shapes of round or ovals.
- Pierce marks with a knife or fork, all over the Naan.
- Melt the butter for 30 seconds in the microwave and brush it over the Naan.
- Sprinkle some sesame seeds. I used white & black sesame seeds {optional}
- Bake under the broiler only on one side for 2 minutes or so {until light golden brown}
- Serve Hot! Enjoy!
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks delicious. My family is the same and don’t think a meal is a meal if meat isn’t involved! Perhaps I should shock tem with Meatless Monday too! Great post……feel like I’m in a bedoiun tent eating local fare!
OMG! Naans and paneer, both looks so scrumptious! Sara, naan came out really good and perfecto!
I want your mortar and pesto. Well I want many things from you don’t I ? haha the greedy me! Sara, this is such a great labor of work for meatless monday. I guess man are often carnivores, its difficult for them to eat just veggies.I make my naan with yeast too, and after reading yours, prerna’s and nadia post I think I need to try the quicker version.
And the Moroccan Chermoula Sauce sounds very much like say a Indian coriander chutney minus the olive oil. I’m sure it tastes great. A fab post as always.
Sounds like my family- They’re all carnivorous except me! This is a simple yet classic tasty combination- cheese and bread! I have tried making Naan couple of time before but was discouraged by how long it took. Your method sounds like a quick version and I bet a delicious one. I have to try! And the sauce- just reading the ingredients makes my mouth water! Not to mention the beautiful photos that are almost making me smell the food!
beautiful combination!!
An entire meal in one post! Lovely photos, lovely presentation, yum!
Wow, I love that Africa meets India dish! Wraps are just irresistible. Great clicks.
Cheers,
Rosa
Yay you joined the Meatless Monday forces!! Love the fusion of NorthAfrica and India & btw paneer never looked this good!!
I don’t know how anyone could resist these gorgeous, protein packed paneer kebabs! Such a great idea for Meatless Monday. Perfect meal for everyone in the house, including the boys
xo
Sara, your photos are absolutely gorgeous! The flavor combination in this is blowing my mind.
I am with cookin’ canuck – the photos are gorgeous. I really love paneer and loved the paneer with peas my mom made yesterday. But honestly, this looks even better (don’t tell her I said so)!
simply stunning! and you made paneer at home, wow. your pics look so mouthwatering. I NEED to make this!
wow what a meal and naan heaven
what a brilliant idea! I’ve made paneer one time and it was so simple. should definitely do it again.
Can’t wait to give your naan recipe a shot!!
I make skewered paneer with tandoori masala all the time.I would love to try this next time.Isnt baking powder a quick way to fix naan.I do away with the yeast when in hurry.you have done them beautifully. I would love be meatless all week only if my husband agrees but he dosent:) beautiful plates and dishes.
AND you make your own naan? You are a goddess! I would love to learn to love to cook with all the gorgeous flavors you use. I would be happy to eat meatless like this on a regular basis. Lovely, Sara.
Let me wipe the drool off my screen…wow! These kabobs are incredible. The paneer is bringing tears to my eyes. YOU ROCK SARA!
Thank you for your sweet comments everyone!
I appreciate it! xoxo
Sara, your post saved me! My son loves Indian cuisine and he requested I make a few of his favorites and take pictures. He’s Star of the Week first week of February.
I’m following your naan recipe tomorrow! Thank you, thank you so much!
Brilliant idea to use chermoula on paneer. I’m used to marinating meats and vegetables in it. This is a lovely change.
That looks amazing and your paneer & naan recipes make it seem so simple! I can’t wait to try!
These paneer kabobs are irresistible! I mean, look at those mouthwatering close-ups, come on! I love to try and make new things and now I have two new things to try, making paneer and making naan, thanks Sara!
Really terrific meal. Looks really elegant. I feel lazy to cook it, but would love to eat it!!!
aaaand this is why I am so proud to be your friend
Your pictures are crazy amazing — Paneer is one of my favorite cheeses and this recipe as a whole is absolutely beautiful: the colors, textures, THE HOMEMADE NAAN!!!!!
I’m in visual foodie heaven right now!
Awesome pictures, I think I’d be seriously able to sit at your table on your meatless Mondays
This is one classy dish my friend 
I would love to make my own Naan although for some reason I have not tried yet! I bet it tastes absolutely fantastic right after it comes out of the oven… and the rest of the dish with the paneer, I definitely does sound like the perfect appetizer for a party!
this looks so delicious and full of flavor. gorgeous dish!
Yummmyyy thank you for these recipes!! Time to organise my next dinner party and show off these amazing dishes
girl u make me want to reach out and grab the food!! I use sesame and kalonji to top the naan too. The sauce sounds amazing!!
These beautiful photos are irresistible, along with the vegetarian dishes which would make me toss up meat without a second thought! I have been nursing the idea of making naan and paneer for a long time now and your recipes are such a good motivator! (interesting to see how naan is made without yeast or yogurt)
Sara, those naan look spectacular! I’ve never made my own but think I can with your great recipe. It’s been super cold here (even with the heat cranked up) so I may wait until it’s a bit warmer to make sure they rise and the first naan making endeavor isn’t a disaster
I’ve been dying to make my own paneer ever since I first saw it a couple months ago on A Canadian Foodie’s website! Yours looks fantastic…thanks for the inspiration, Sara!
Kudos to you for adopting that “Meatless Mondays” philosophy. I would whole-heartedly do that, too, if not for the fact that I’m married to a man whose nickname is Meat Boy. You get my drift. Though, I am making progress. He’s actually accompanying me to a vegetarian restaurant next month, if you can believe that.
My hubby is a big fan for naan and yours looks fantastic. He will flip if I tell him that I have the recipe and will make our own. Thanks.
I have never made paneer. I just printed your recipe to make with my girls–so excited to try this! We too have been sticking with meatless Mondays, and I know everyone will love this one.
Oh, I love chermoula and these look amazing! I wonder if they would also work with halloumi cheese?
Thanks for teaching us that making paneer is not so intimidating. This recipe sounds so great and as usual, stunning food styling and photography.
Oh my gosh, this looks AMAZING! My mouth is literally watering!
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