MAKING PANEER

Home Made Paneer

 
Paneer which is popularly known as Indian cottage cheese is used in preparing many dishes. Many sweets, curries, salads involve paneer. Although it is widely available in the market, some of the dishes demand for freshly prepared paneer. Here I give a simple version of preparing paneer. This is the soft paneer which can be used in desert preparation or dishes which involve soft crumbled paneer. Paneer making is a very simple process, but you will need to know the exact procedure to get the soft paneer.
INGREDIENTS

• Whole milk                     1 liters
• Lemon juice                  4 Tsp

PREPARATION
Take a large bowl and fill it with very cold water and cover a muslin cloth over it. In a large thick bottomed pan heat the milk. Let the milk come to a boil. Stir continuously and see that no layer is formed on the milk. Now pour in the lemon juice. Stir for about 1/2 minute. The milk curdles and you will see the paneer separating from the whey. If the paneer do not separate add more of the lemon juice. Now you are sure to get the paneer separated. Switch off the flame and pour the whole thing into the muslin cloth which is already arranged on a cold water bowl. Now tie the edges of the muslin cloth and gently dip the muslin cloth with paneer into cold water. See that paneer do not mix with water. Leave for about half minute(not more than that). This process makes the paneer soft and will end the further cooking of paneer. Now squeeze out the excess water, use a kitchen towel to remove the moisture from the paneer. When using for sweets use the paneer as it is. If it is for curries, place the paneer ball along with the muslin cloth  on a plate(reverse the plate and place paneer on it) and keep a heavy weight  on the paneer(large bowl with water will be fine). Leave for about an hour. Remove the thick lump of paneer from the cloth and cube it. The cubes can be refrigerated for 10 days.    
TIPS

• Vinegar can also be used instead of lemon juice.
• The home made paneer is a little bit crumbling so when frying the cubes, mix them in corn flour paste and fry them.
• The store bought paneer contains corn syrup so it is very soft and firm. So this do not need to be dipped in corn flour paste.