Paneer: Homemade Indian Cheese
- Cheesecloth
- 8 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed, see Cook's Note*
- Line a large colander with a large double layer of cheesecloth, and set it in your sink.
- In a large wide pot, bring the milk to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom (a nonstick pot works really well for this purpose).
- This will take a little while so be patient!
- Add the lemon juice and turn the heat down to low.
- Stirring gently, you should almost immediately see the curds (white milk solids) and whey (the greenish liquid) separate.
- Don't fret, this is perfect!
- *Cook's Note: If the milk doesn't separate juice some more lemons and add another tablespoon or two.
- Boost the heat again and the milk should separate.
- Stir in a motion that gathers the curds together rather than breaks them up.
- Remove the pot from the heat and carefully pour the contents into the cheesecloth-lined colander.
- Gently rinse with cool water to get rid of the lemon flavor.
- At this point, you could squeeze out some of the liquid, and serve with some honey and some nuts, almost like a fresh ricotta!
- Grab the ends of the cheesecloth and twist the ball of cheese to squeeze out the excess whey.
- Tie the cheesecloth to your kitchen faucet and allow the cheese to drain for about 5 minutes.
- Twisting the ball to compact the cheese into a block, place it on a plate with the twisted part of the cheesecloth on the side (this will ensure your block of cheese is nice and smooth!)
- and set another plate on top.
- Weigh the second plate down with cans of beans or a heavy pot.
- Move to the refrigerator and let it sit about 20 minutes.
- Unwrap your beautiful disc of homemade cheese!
- You did it!
- You can now use this in any number of traditional Indian dishes, like saag paneer.
cheesecloth, milk, freshly squeezed lemon juice
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/paneer-homemade-indian-cheese-recipe.html (may not work)