HOMEMADE PANEER / COTTAGE CHEESE

Paneer is our Indian cheese and rich vegetarian dish. It's used in most of our Indian dishes, both sweets and gravies.  Whenever we visit a restaurant paneer gravies will be our regular order for veg dishes. Paneer dishes are always our family favorite.  Normally i use store bought paneer for all my recipes. Ever since i started making my own paneer at home all my recipes are with home made paneer. It's pretty easy and only the setting part  is bit time consuming . But that’s important for a perfect paneer.

Home Made Paneer / Cottage Cheese Recipe - Ingredients

Cooking time - 10 mins / Setting time - 5-6 hours / Recipe cuisine - Indian 

Milk - 1 litr
Curd - 1/2 cup
       or
Lemon juice - 2 tbslp

Method:

1. Bring the milk to boil and simmer it for 5 mins.

 

2. Add first 1/4 cup of curd  stirring continuously and then add other 1/4 cup. You can see the milk starts curdling.

 

3. Keep stirring continuously till the whey water completely separates and then switch off.

4. Strain the paneer through a clean cheese cloth or cotton dupatta .Squeeze the excess whey water gently.

5. Hang it above the sink or in the tap and allow the water to completely drip say for 2 hours.

 

6. Now take it and place it in  flat surface and keep any sort of flat weight over it.  I used my paniyaram pan and kept some more weight on it.

 

7. Allow it to set for 2 hours or more and then place it in a fridge. If you want to use later, it can be stored in freezer. When using , cut into stripes and then into cubes.

 

 

This will be sufficient enough to serve 3 people. When using it from fridge or freezer just wait for 10 mins and then cut into pieces. I will be posting soon the various paneer  recipes with homemade paneer.

Notes:

• The cloth you are using must be sufficient enough to hold the paneer which gives the shape to the paneer. You can use dhothi or any thin cotton towel.
• Give enough time for the water to drain completely or else it will not set properly.
• The more flat weight you keep the texture of the paneer will be soft. The weight must spread evenly.
• When using for gravies, immerse the paneer in warm water for few mins. It will help to absorb in gravies.
• When using lemon juice add one tblsp first and then the other. Using curd will increase the volume of paneer.