how to make paneer at home

For making about 150 grams of Paneer, we need to have the following ready:

1 liter whole milk
1 medium-sized lemon or 1 to 3 tsp of vinegar
2 pots or pans (1 for for boiling milk in, the other for when we strain)
cheese cloth
small-sized weight of about 3 kgs (a small pot filled with water will do)

The first thing you need to do is heat one (1) liter of whole milk (cow's milk or buffalo milk works well).

While waiting for the milk to come to a boil, squeeze the juice from one (1) lemon into a small bowl or cup. Make sure you remove seeds or pulp bits.

When the milk is finally boiling, start stirring it lightly to stop the milk from expanding and boiling over. Be careful as milk expands rather quickly when it boils and can spill out of your pot! If it is expanding too fast, lower the heat immediately.

Pour the lemon juice (or the vinegar) into the boiling milk and continue stirring. You will notice that small lumps starts to form and the color of the milk changes.

Once the color of the milk becomes almost transparent and the lumps have now fully formed, turn off the heat. You now have a pot of curds and whey.

Using potholders, lift the pot off the stove and pour the contents into a large bowl or pot covered with cheese cloth. Be careful as the steam may be very hot.

Remove the cheesecloth covering slowly, making sure the curds are all in the center. Then start gathering the corners of the cheese cloth together until it forms a sort of bag with all the curds coming together.

Now try to squeeze out as much of the liquid (whey) out of the bag (we don't need the liquid). Then place the bag onto a flat surface. Above the bag, place a plate. On top of that plate, place a heavy object like a small-sized weight. (If you are using a small pot filled with water as your weight, make sure you balance it properly so it won't tilt or fall over). We need to press down on the bag so all the curds come together and solidify.

After about 1 to 2 hours, lift the weight off and take the bag. Slowly open it to check if the curds have been pressed together. If a small white block has formed. This block is your paneer.

See how easy it is! You can now start using your paneer or store it in the refrigerator for later use.

Paneer or cottage cheese goes really well with almost anything. You can fry it and add it to other vegetables, use it as stuffing or make snacks with it.

It is very healthy and easy to make. It only takes a few minutes to make Paneer and you can store it in the freezer (in an airtight container) for a few days. Kids love it too so you can use it as topping on pizzas, filling in sandwiches, pakoras, paranthas and much more.

Before you make Kadhai Paneer, you will need the following ingredients:

250 gms Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
3 pcs medium-sized Capsicum (Shimla Mirch)\
2 - 3 Tbsp chopped coriander (Dhania)
3 medium Tomatoes
4 medium Onions
1 inch piece of Ginger
1/2 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
salt to taste
1 tsp Chili powder (or more, depending on how spicy you prefer)
2 pcs. Bay Leaves
4 Cloves
1 thin piece of Cinnamon
1/2 turmeric powder (to add lovely color)
3 - 4 Tbsp of Clarified Butter (Ghee) or Vegetable Oil

Once you have everything ready, you can proceed to make your Kadhai Paneer

-- Cut cottage cheese into cubes and set aside
-- Cut the capsicum into thin long pieces.
-- In a blender, grind onions, tomatoes, ginger, salt, chili powder and turmeric to form a rough paste
-- Roughly grind cloves and cinnamom in a mortar and pestle
-- Heat the clarified butter or vegetable oil in a pan then add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves
-- Add the paste made from onion, ginger and tomato
-- Cook on light flame until the oil starts to separate
-- Add the dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
-- Add the paneer cubes and capsicum slivers
-- Cook on light heat until the capsicum is done.
-- Sprinkle the chopped corriander on top

Your delicious Kadhai Paneer is now done and is ready to serve. You can enjoy this dish with Basmati rice, naan or parantha.