How to make cottage cheese or paneer at home

Cottage cheese or paneer is an Indian cheese used in appetizers, curries, snacks, desserts etc. I have been making paneer at home for many years because we used to get horrible paneer where we were living in, so I had no option but to make at home.

I make paneer dishes once a week because everyone in my family loves paneer.

Believe me once you taste the home made paneer, you will never go back to store bought again.

Ingredients:

Whole/full cream milk- 2litres

Lemon juice/vinegar/curd- 2-3 tablespoons

Things you need:

2 deep heavy bottomed pan

muslin/cheese cloth

wooden laddle

Method:

Bring milk to a boil in a  pan stirring occassionally. Once the milk rises to the top, simmer the flame and add 1 tsp lemon juice/vinegar/curd. The milk would start curdling now. Add some more juice until it curdled completely, stirring continuously so that it doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Switch off the stove when you see a lump of crumbled cottage cheese separated from light greenish water/whey. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

Now line a sieve with a cheese cloth or muslin keeping another pan underneath. Pour the curdled cheese over the cloth letting all the whey strain through. When the whey is strained completely, tie up the cloth and let it drain for 30 minutes. Now place a heavy weight on the cheese to get it to be flatter for 1 hour. I keep a plate and pressure cooker with water on top of it. If you keep the weight for too long, cheese will loose the moisture thereby making it hard and crumbly.

Remove from the cloth and cut into cubes or you can keep it in the fridge for 3- 4 days.

If you feel your paneer is hard, immerse it in warm water for half an hour.

Now your home made paneer is ready :)

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