Paneer ( Indian Cottage Cheese)

Submitted by Elaniemay

"Posted for ZWT6. I got this from worldcook.htm. If you wait longer and put a weight on top, it will be firm white cheese."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 2
• Yields: 1 batch
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 liter milk
• 4 tablespoons vinegar or 4 tablespoons lemon juice

directions

1. Bring the milk to the boil. Add the vinegar or lemon juice, and wait until the solids shift from the whey. If this does not happen after a minute or so, add some more juice or vinegar.
2. Now put a clean cloth in a sieve and poor the fluid through the sieve.
3. After one hour, the cheese will be like cottage cheese, especially if you add some salt and a few tablespoons cream.
4. If you wait longer and put a weight on top, it will be firm white cheese.

Reviews

[KateL]

As written, the recipe produces an unsalted soft cheese that reminds me of yogurt. I did not weight my curds while they drained, but I allowed them to drain twice as long. I used several layers of cheesecloth, which turned out to be a mistake as I had strata of cheese between the layers. My second photo shows my panir after I cubed it (and shows how much remained trapped in the cheesecloth). By the time I cooked it for Recipe #482753, it had the consistency of cottage cheese -- not appealing in looks, but it did the trick for the recipe. Next time, I would put the finished cheese in a square glass container and weight it down to make a consistent rectangle of cheese easy to cube. At any rate, I ended up with a little over 1 cup of panir from 1 liter of milk. This is a recipe you need to play with to find the perfect consistency for your needs. Made for The Wild Bunch for ZWT8 for its trip to India.

 

[breezermom]

I made this to use in Palak Paneer, and wanted the firm version of the cheese, so I weighted it down until I got the right firmness. Thanks for sharing! Made for ZWT8.

 

[The Amazing Christy]

This was the recipe I was taught to use with a preference for lemon juice and whole milk. One tip if using lemon juice, after you let it initially drain, rinse it gently to remove any remaining lemon juice and squeeze gently. Then continue to let it drain and weight it with plate and like a large can of veg or tomatoes. Also works great as a dessert if you don't weight it down and add a touch of honey, cinnamon and walnuts to the cheese and serve with bread.