Spicy baked paneer - The Perfect Paneer starter!

I am a part of Fondbites Bake Along group in FaceBook, where a group of baking enthusiasts try out a common recipe every week. This week's recipe was crispy baked chicken. Being the veggie that I am, I got upset on seeing the post. But when someone suggested the idea of replacing chicken wings with paneer cubes, I tried it immediately and it turned out to be perfect and absolutely yummy!

"It is like a 5 star restaurant starter" , said my dad!! What else do I need to say?! Gently crisp on the outside, soft in the inside, with an amazing blend of spices.. Yummy yummy!

Recipe Source: Fondbites - Bake Along

INGREDIENTS:

• Paneer cubes - 20
• Maida - 2.5 tablespoons
• Chilli flakes - 1 teaspoon
• Pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Baking powder - 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt - a little less than 1/2 teaspoon
• Olive oil - 2 tablespoons

METHOD:

1. In a bowl, add maida, chilli flakes, pepper powder, garam masala, baking powder and salt. Mix with a fork
2. Pre heat the oven to 150 deg C
3. Put this mixture in a zip lock bag and add paneer cubes into it. Close the bag and give it a good shake, so that all the paneer cubes are well coated with the powder
4. Line the baking tray with aluminium foil and grease with olive oil
5. Place the coated paneer cubes on the foil, drizzle some oil over them and sprinkle a little of the remaining spice powder over them
6. Turn over the cubes and again drizzle some oil and sprinkle all the remaining spice powder over them
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150 deg C for 15 minutes, on the LOWER rack
8. Remove the tray from oven, turn over the cubes, drizzle oil over them and now bake on the MIDDLE rack at 180 deg C for 10 minutes
9. Serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney! You could even attach them to mini wooden skewers to give the restaurant feel! 

NOTES:

• Make sure that the paneer cubes are not too thick
• You can replace paneer with chicken wings as in the original recipe. But bake for a longer time. (30 minutes at 150 deg C and 20 minutes at 180 deg C)
• Replace garam masala with mixed spices used for pizza toppings