Making paneer - a tutorial

There are plenty of blogs that detail how to make paneer at home – and really it is the simplest thing, taking perhaps just a little time. A quick google (like I did) would show you what I mean. But because I’ve been literally inundated with a request (anonymous, but still a request) to post a recipe for home-made paneer, I thought I would add my bit to the information superhighway.

My extra tip is to NOT throw away the whey that’s left behind (as I regrettably did the first time), but to use it in place of water when cooking rice for pulao or biriyani. Whey can also be used to knead chapatti dough, but that doesn’t use up much whey really, unless you have a very large family which eats lots of chapattis! The whey stays good for 2-3 days (or maybe longer, but I haven’t tried it personally) in the fridge. Ditto the paneer.

Recipe for: Home-made paneer



Ingredients

2 litres milk (full fat or half-fat)
2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice or fresh curd/yogurt

Method:

1. Bring milk to a boil,



then add 2 tbsp lemon juice to it and stir, turning down the heat to medium.



2. Let the milk solids separate from the liquid (whey).



If the whey looks milky and not thin enough, add a little more lemon juice and simmer for a few minutes more.



The whey should be almost transparent liquid.

3. Strain the paneer through a muslin cloth



and let the whey drain into a vessel.





Hang up the paneer for 4-5 hours to let all the whey drip through…



or if you’re impatient like me, squeeze it through the cloth (when it’s cool enough to handle without discomfort) to help the whey on its whey out… er, I mean way out. (Yes. HAHAHA!)

4. Shape the paneer into a round or rectangle as best as possible and put it under a heavy weight for 2-3 hours (if you want to be able to cut it into pieces, and for the pieces to hold their shape).