Making Paneer Recipe

Paneer is hard Indian cheese made with regular milk via heat-acid coagulation process

Paneer is same as Queso Blanco (White Cheese) in Mexico. Paneer is rubbery bland cheese molded in to a cube under pressure. This has the same consistency as hard or firm Tofu. The cheese is produced by coagulating hot milk with acid.

In the olden days, Water-Buffalo or goat milk was used to make Paneer. Nowadays, commercial Paneer is often made with un-pasteurized un-homogenized cow's whole milk. We can use homogenized pasteurized milk successfully at home. I will add some heavy whipping cream to milk to gain cream fat lost in making regular milk in United States.

In India, lime juice is used as the acid. In Mexico, white vinegar is used. Either acid can be used. I will use distilled white vinegar. You will need one Tablespoon of either lime juice or vinegar for one quart of milk.

Do not use Aluminum or copper pot to make Paneer because of the acid. Heavy bottom stainless steel pot works very well.

Low fat Paneer

Ingredients

1. Whole milk: 1 Gallon

2. Heavy whipping cream: 2 Cups

3. Distilled white vinegar: 9 Tablespoons

Method

1. Heat milk to 200º F. Stir it often to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pot. Even if you let the milk to come to a boil, it will not effect making Paneer.

2. Add vinegar. The milk will start to coagulate immediately. White curd will start floating floating in in greenish whey. Stir to let the vinegar disperse. Don't stir too long or vigorously. Shut off heat.

3. Let it rest for ten minutes to complete the coagulation and hardening of curd.

4. Line a colander with fine cheesecloth, called 'Butter Muslin'. Pour the contents of the pot into the colander to drain curd. You may collect and save the whey. The whey may be used to knead dough for making Roti, Curry, or Rice. In about ten minutes most of the whey would have drained out.

5. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth and hang it to drain for about two hours. Remove the Cheese from the cheesecloth and cut it into 1" cubes. Store in the refrigerator.

Yogi's notes

Commercial cheese is molded into a brick. For Step 5, you may lay the tied cheese flat in between two cutting boards. Put a milk gallon jug filled with water on top of the cutting board. After four hours, remove the weight and slowly remove the cheesecloth and you will have a slab of cheese ready to cut in cubes. My son had given me a tin box of Snicker's bar for Christmas. They came in a square tin box about 2" deep. I drilled 6 holes on the bottom of the box. I lay down the Cheese (tied in the cheese cloth) in this tin can. The tin can basically works as a mold. Then I put two bricks, as a weight on it. After four hours I have 1" thick rectangular slab of cheese.