Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Homemade Paneer (Indian cheese)

Weather here is not giving any break from snow and wind chills. With such low temperatures I just dont feel like getting up on weekends. On such lazy mornings, I get little bored of day to day cooking. Only thing which makes me go in the kitchen on weekends is trying something new.  If I am doing something different than my regular dishes, I get excited to cook. :) This weekend  I decided to make Paneer at home for some wonderful dinner. I have never made Paneer at home before this Saturday and I really wondered why I did not try this before. It is so easy to make Paneer at home rather than buying little costly Paneer from Indian store. Also home made fresh Paneer tastes so much better!

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon (8 Cups) whole milk
4-5 tbsp lemon juice
cheesecloth or thin cotton piece
Method:
  1. Heat milk in a vessel till it boils. Occasionally stir milk to avoid it sticking to bottom.
  2. Just before milk rises, add lemon juice. Stir and switch off the heat.
  3. Stir properly so that lemon juice gets mixed nicely to milk. Soon milk will separate into small curd like granules and water (whey).
  4. The color of whey(water separated) should be greenish yellow. If it is not greenish yellow, it means there is still some fats present in it. Add some more lemon juice in such case.
  5. Let this rest  for few minutes. When it has cooled down a little bit ( It should still be warm) drain mixture through cheesecloth or any thin cotton cloth.  Paneer will get collected in cloth. Make sure you collect the whey too in some vessel. This whey is nutritious and can be used for making chapati/roti dough. Chapatis made with such dough comes out really soft.Also you can use this whey for making gravys. This water helps making gravys cremy and rich.
  6. Bring edges of cloth together and squeeze it to remove excess water present.
  7. Keep cloth covered panner on a flat surface. Flatten paneer by patting to rectangular shape. Flatten it till you get required thickness.
  8. Put any flat surface on cloth covered paneer. On its top place anything heavy. I had put my pressure cooker filled completely with water. Keep like this for 2-3 hours.
  9. Cut paneer into cubes of required size.
 Half gallon of milk will make more than 250 gms of paneer. Enjoy taste of fresh home made paneer!

Preparation time: 20-25 minutes.

25 comments:

Perspectivemedley said...

Wooow lovely dear!.. you just made making paneer at home sound soo positive through your introduction!.. That gives me the enthusiasm to think about trying at home.. some time:).. thank you.. and the finished paneer looks perfect!!.. yummy!:)..

kitchen queen said...

the home mada paneer looks so perfect and tempting.Thanks for sharing.

Sushma Mallya said...

nothing best than a home made paneer,tastes really much better and soft than the store bought ones...looks perfect renuka

Ash said...

Oh!! Oh!!! Haalige huli hindi bittiya????? Aadaru paravaagilla...... Nanage kooda paneer thumba ishta..... But never tried at home, I felt it was a mess..... But now that I see yours, I would wanna try it too..... & Yup! it is much safer, healthier & hygienic.....

Ash...
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Rachana said...

Homemade Paneer are the best!!! And your paneer has come out really well!

Pari Vasisht said...

Hi. I always made Paneer at home when in Chennai and loved the home made better than the ready made. Your's look great.

BeenaShylesh said...

thanks for sharing the recipe with us..

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Nothing is best otherthan homemade paneer...perfect.

Unknown said...

Wow Lovely,never tried this before...Home made paneer always makes a big difference in the dishes..
Great job...

Anonymous said...

Your homemade paneer looks great. It's worth the effort, after all homemade is the best.

Siddhi Shirsat said...

hey renuka this paneer luks jus perfect

Namitha said...

Perfect..Mostly I end up buying paneer because I'm lazy :-)Thanks for your tip on using whey..

Hayley said...

Perfect homemade paneer..i do make at home..:))well job done..

Aparna said...

renu i am very happy i got a good company.:)weekends i dnt feel like getting up..good u tried making this..

Nithu Bala said...

Renuka Dear, you have one award waiting at my blog..please do collect it..Congrats and my wishes for you to get many more awards :-)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Hi Renuka...first time here...you have a nice blog :) Paneer looks so perfect!

Perspectivemedley said...

Hey Renuka.. I would like to share some awards with you please accept it from my blog:):)

Renuka Bedre - Rao said...

Thanks alot Gals for your sweet comments!

Sarah Naveen said...

thanx a lot for this great recipe..

Deepa G Joshi said...

home made paneer is really good and this one looks really perfect..

Urmi said...

Paneer looks absolutely perfect and superb. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.

Unknown said...

simple and easy paneer,,the home made paneer is always fresh than store bought paneer...
award is waiting for u in my blog,,plz accept it...

ruchikacooks said...

I love paneer. Home made paneer tastes so good. Looks good.

Nithu Bala said...

Dear please do collect awards from my blog..

subhashini said...

I love paneer dishes.Thanks for such a wonderful idea of making paneer.
Regards
Subhashini

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