Saturday, July 7, 2007

Homemade Paneer

Making sabjis with Paneer was not so common at my place until last month. That's when I was cribbing about how rarely we find Paneer here at the Indian stores. She quickly replied that she preferred making it at home and the cook in me cursed me when I got to know the oh-so-easy procedure of making Paneer at home! I tried it out the next day and it turned out perfectly smooth and delicious.. I thought of sharing this with you guys so that you can make some lovely Paneer dishes for me :D

I dont think I need to talk more about this lovely no-fat cheese from India- Paneer, also known as cottage Cheese. I realised that its totally harmless when I prepared it at home.. And now since I have Paneer at hand, except some Paneer dishes next week from me for RCI Punjabi Cuisine! :)
Paneer


Preparation time:

3.5-4 hrs

Makes:

~400 gm Paneer

What you need:

1 liter full fat Milk
Juice of 1 Lemon

How to proceed:

1) Place milk in a pan and bring to boil
2) Keep stiring at intervals so that it does not stick to the pan
3) When milk starts boiling, add juice of 1 lemon to it
4) Heat for another 5-10 mins
5) You'll see a separate yellowish layer of water above
6) Take off the heat and seive using a strainer to remove the water
7) Hold under cold water for a min and then tie in a thin cloth
8) Hang it/Place it under weight for few hours till all water drains out
9) Cut in cubes and use it for your favourite Punjabi dishes!

* Strain the lemon juice before hand. Do not squeze it directly over the milk. This prevents the lemon particles from getting into paneer and paneer retains the pure white color.

* I prefer hanging the paneer for some time and then pressing it between my cutting board and my marble rolling platform (polpat/chakla). This makes the panner flat and becomes easier to store it as well as easy for making cubes!

3 comments:

FH said...

I love making Paneer at home.It's so easy,some people find it very hard to make them!Good recipe Aarti.
My posts are out!:)

Richa said...

paneer cubes ekdum chan disat ahet! ani lagnachya vadhdivsache best wishes!

GreenMom said...

I didn't know paneer was no-fat!I thought in fact they were full-fat..got to check this out.
Nice blog aarti!