If you've got whole milk and vinegar, you've got this! Paneer is a soft cheese that is featured in many Indian curries. It is a fresh, neutral cheese that is similar to mozzarella, except with a special added feature: it does not melt! So you can absolutely pan-fry or grill it, and add it to salads, wraps, pastas, or sandwiches.
You can also make this in the morning and it will be ready by the afternoon or evening. (Perfect for those telework days.) The recipe is simple, and it basically involves boiling, curdling, and then straining the milk to separate out the milk curds or "chenna" from the whey. The milk curds are then pressed together for a few hours to form a solid block and . . . that's about it!
Ingredients:
1/2 gallon of whole milk (do not use anything less than full fat milk)
White vinegar (you can use lemon juice instead, but you may need to use a bit more to get the milk to curdle)
Optional: salt, sugar, and other seasonings (you could add herbs, or other spices)
Directions:
Boil. Add the milk to medium pot on medium heat and bring the milk to a gentle boil.
Curdle. Once the milk starts bubbling, reduce the heat to low, and stir in 1/4 cup of the vinegar. Stir for 30 seconds to a minute, and the milk should begin to curdle. This means the milk curds will separate from the whey and you should start to see cottage cheese like chunks form in the milk. Within a minute or so, after the curds have started to form, reduce the heat and allow the process to continue. (If the milk does not curdle, increase the heat and add another tablespoon or more of vinegar.) The whey should be clear with a yellow tint---once you see this and all the milk has curdled, turn the heat off and allow the liquid to cool slightly.
Strain. Now the fun part! We're going to strain the mixture to collect the curds. You'll need to first set up your straining system. One option is to line a colander or large mesh strainer with a cheesecloth. If you want to collect the whey (which is high in protein and can be used for soups or smoothies), put the colander or strainer in a large bowl to collect the whey water as it drains out. Otherwise, place the colander or strainer in the sink before you start. If you don't have a cheesecloth, I've also used large coffee filters-- just line a smaller mesh strainer with a coffee filter and take care to strain your whey out in smaller batches. At this point, you can rinse the curds with water to remove any flavor of the vinegar, but most of the vinegar flavor will have traveled to the whey, and the slight amount of acidity remaining actually adds a nice dimension of flavor to the paneer. Speaking of flavor--now's the time to add any other flavor you want. This is totally optional, but I like to add at least 1/2 teaspoon or more of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar-- just sprinkle it into the curds while they are still inside the cheesecloth and stir well.
Press. Gather the curds into a ball in the middle of the cheesecloth and tightly wrap the cloth around the curds. Squeeze out as much of the excess whey as you can, and then tie or knot the cloth. Then place a heavy pot or can on top of the cheesecloth ball and let it sit for at least 2 hours. The longer the cheese is pressed, the firmer it will be. (If you are pressing it overnight, keep the cheese in the refrigerator.) After pressing, open up the cloth to reveal a firm ball of cheese.
How to use paneer?
You can eat the paneer as is, or lightly brown it in olive oil or butter and add it to curries, kormas, and other dishes in my book, like saag paneer, matar paneer, and palak paneer salad.
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