Paneer is an unsalted homemade Indian cottage cheese. It’s crumbly texture makes it versatile to be used in curries, chutneys and savoury snacks.

Ingredients

  • 2 litres fresh cream milk
  • 500g sour milk
  • 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

  1. Heat the milk in a heavy based pot on a medium heat setting.
  2. Allow the milk to boil.
  3. Stir in the sour milk.
  4. Add in the lemon juice.
  5. Stir the milk mixture gently to help it to curd.
  6. This should take about a minute.
  7. The curds should coagulate and separate from the watery whey.
  8. Remove the pot from the stove top.
  9. Place a large sieve lined with a muslin cloth over a large bowl.
  10. Pour the curd mixture from the pot into the sieve.
  11. Gather the ends of the muslin cloth together, keeping the cloth tightly wrapped, run it under cold tap water for a few seconds.
  12. Place the tightly wrapped muslin cloth containing the curds onto a flat surface.
  13. Place a pot filled with water over the cloth of curds for 30-45 minutes to remove excess liquid.
  14. The curds should form into a firm block of Indian homemade cottage cheese- Paneer.
  15. Cut the paneer into desired sized cubes.
  16. Use in curries, chutneys or snacks.