Paneer

Paneer is an Indian cheese used in main vegetarian courses. You can buy it readymade often in the grocery store or an Indian food retailer. It's very easy to make at home and the taste will be much lighter and more delicate.

All you'll need to make paneer is some milk, a cheesecloth, and a curdling agent like lemon or lime juice. You can use vinegar but it can leave a slight taste in the paneer so the fruits are best. In a pich you can use something like rice vinegar.

Ingredients

1/2 gallon milk
juice of 1 lemon

In a large pot bring milk slowly to a boil. Don't scald the milk!. As soon as the milk comes to a full, rolling boil add the lemon juice. Make sure the curds have separated completely (you should see white curds and a greenish clear liquid, whey). If it curdles but doesn't finish separating add a little more juice or vinegar.

Remove from heat and strain into a cheesecloth. Wrap up the ends and twist tightly in cloth to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Place cheese still in cloth on a draining surface and put something heavy on top to press the liquid out. Let sit weighted for about 30 minutes. When cheese is hard and most of the excess moisture is gone you can slice it into cubes as desired.

You can see videos on you tube but it's so easy you can't go wrong. The only disaster is if the milk scalds, everything will taste bad.

Enjoy!