How to Make Paneer Cheese

Paneer is one of the only completely vegetarian cheeses in the world. It is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent in Asia and is a primary source of protein for vegetarian monks. If you want to add a little variety to your meals, you can add paneer to your spicy curry dishes. Just because monks enjoy paneer doesn't mean it's boring or not enjoyable, so have fun making your own paneer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cheesecloth
• 1/2 Gallon whole milk
• 2 TBSP Lemon juice

Make Paneer Cheese

1. Bring milk to a boil in a heavy sauce pan. Once the milk boils, remove it from the burner.

2. Add the lemon juice to the milk. Stir the mixture until small curds separate from the whey. This will take about 2-3 minutes.

3. Allow mixture to sit for about 10 minutes so the curds have time to form. Drain the mixture into a collander that is lined with 2 layers of your cheesecloth.

4. Tie up opposite ends of the cheesecloth when it is cool enough to handle. Squeeze out the remaining liquid from the cheesecloth.

5. Place your paneer onto a plate, leaving it in the cheesecloth.

6. Flatten paneer to about 1/2" thick and place another plate on top. Put something heavy on top of plate to keep paneer flat. This can be soup cans, a book, or anything else that will weigh it down. Allow this to sit for 20 minutes.

7. Pour off any remaining liquid from paneer and refrigerate overnight. You could also dip paneer into cool water for 2-3 hours. Enjoy.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use paneer immediately if you wish. Cut into cubes no larger than 1/2" thick and fry gently in oil. Make sure to brown both sides and serve.
• When milk starts to boil it will foam up very quickly. Make sure to take remove milk before it overflows.

Who Can Help Sponsored

• How to Lose 30+lbs Guaranteed. Try it Free.

[drfugawe]

on 12/24/2008 The "cheesecloth" sold in stores today is crap! It really is NOT meant to drain cheese, and it is exorbitantly expensive. To drain cheese, use either an old muslin pillow case, or the big, square, thin cotton kitchen towels sold in Wal-Mart. I'm not sure what the quality is of the ones in your "Things You'll Need", but if they are the usual, coarse stuff usually found, they're not good either.

[GreenMomma]

on 10/28/2008 excellent. i've been wanting to make my own paneer and was wondering where to get this cheese!