Paneer (cottage cheese)
Making your own paneer is not very hard, but should be done with care (and a
lot of stirring! ;)...
If you want to use yogurt whey rather than (more commonly used) citric acid,
put yogurt in a large coffee filter or a piece of cheesecloth and leave to
drip for a night or so, the stuff that drips out is great (even better than
citric acid if you ask me, since it tastes less sour) to make cheese curdle.
- 1 l full fat milk
- 1 large tablespoon lemon juice, dissolved in some water, or 2 cups of whey
from yogurt
- a couple of liters of cold water and ice cubes
- a large piece of cheesecloth
- put the milk in a thick-bottomed pan on a medium flame and bring to a boil,
stirring constantly to make sure it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom or
side of the pan
- when it boils, bit by bit add the water and juice or yogurt whey, stirring
rigorously, until the milk begins to curdle
- if the milk curdles, immediately stop adding acid and remove from the flame
- pour the milk into the cheesecloth to filter out the lumps
- make a small package from the cheesecloth and rinse well under the cold tap
- place the package in the cold water with ice cubes for a while until it's
cold; the longer the cheese is warm, the cheese looses its softness
- when it's cold, place in a cheese or flower press and leave for a couple of
hours to make a nice cube