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How to make paneer, homemade paneer recipe: I know everyone and their mother and their dogs (some bloggers have really smart dogs) have blogged about how to make paneer at home but to my defence, I still get questions and emails asking how I do it.
I started making paneer at home more frequently when Mustafa Centre stopped stocking Amul paneer cubes intermittently. Although they were practically tasteless compared to homemade paneer, I always have a small bag in the freezer just in case the urgent need to make somepaneer butter masala kicks in. When I make fresh paneer at home, I usually end up using it within the next day or two so the store-bought ones were good for storing away for a paneer emergency.
More amazing paneer recipes on Edible Garden:
Paneer paratha
Paneer shashlik
Palak paneer
Tomato paneer pulao
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How to Make Paneer
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How to make paneer or Indian cottage cheese at home. Paneer is a staple in the Indian vegetarian diet and a great source of protein, not to mention delicious
5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 7 minutes mins
Total Time 17 minutes mins
Course How-To
Cuisine Indian
Servings 2 cups paneer
Ingredients
- 1 litre full fat milk
- 1/2 cup curd or buttermilk or 1/3 cup lime or vinegar
Instructions
Pour 1 litre full fat milk into a pan. It's very important that you use full fat milk for making paneer since we are basically going to extract the milk solids and fats from it and separate the whey
In this pictorial I have used lemon juice but have found that curd or buttermilk is more predictable so if you are a beginner, use that
Bring the milk to a rolling boil and add the curdling agent - curd, buttermilk, lemon juice OR vinegar - any one of your choice
Simmer for another 4-5 mins or until the milk has completely curdled. Keep stirring gently while this happens
Once the milk has curdled, turn the heat off and transfer to a double layered cheesecloth (or use an Indian cotton towel), that's placed over a colander which is in turn placed over a bowl large enough to collect all the whey
Once the whey has drained off completely, wrap the ends of the cheesecloth over the paneer. At this stage, if I use lime or lemon juice, I run the paneer under some water to remove the sourness of lemon. This is optional
You need to place some weights over this cheesecloth-paneer bundle to make a firm block of paneer. I placed a plate over it so that the block gets uniformly pressed down.
Then I put my stone pestle and mortar over it and topped that up with my granite chapati rolling stone.
Leave the weights on for about 2-3 hours and you should have a firm block of paneer
Refrigerate for an hour or so so it's easier to cut into cubes and use immediately or store in the freezer for later use
Step by Step Pictures: How to Make Paneer at Home
Pour 1 litre full cream milk into a pan. It’s very important that you use full fatmilk and not low-fat, 2%, etc.
PinI usedlemon to curdle the milk in this pictorial and you need about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of lemon juice. You can also use white vinegar instead of lemon. However, I have found the most consistency results when usingbuttermilk or curd so that’s the way to go, especially if you are new to making paneer at home.
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Bring the milk to a rolling boil and add the lemon juice or vinegar. Simmer for another 2-3 mins until the milk has completely curdled. Keep stirring.
Remove from fire and transfer to a double layered cheesecloth (or use an Indian cotton towel – thorthu / thundu), that’s placed over a colander which is in turn placed over a bowl large enough to collect all the whey.
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Once the whey has drained off completely..
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Wrap the ends of the cheesecloth over the paneer (at this point, you can run this bundle under some running water to wash out any residual sourness from the lemon but this is optional)
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You need to place some weights over this to make a firm block of paneer. I place a plate over it so that the block gets uniformly pressed down.
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Then on goes my stone mortar..
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.. topped off with my granite chapati stone. (You can use bags of beans, cookbooks, or anything that’s heavy and can be balanced over the pressed paneer)
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Leave the weights on for about 2-3 hours and voila! You are left with fresh paneer!
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Refrigerate for an hour before cutting into blocks.
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What about the whey you ask? Well, you can use it to cook rice or any vegetables. Also add it to roti dough for super soft rotis. Another great way to use it up is to use it instead of lemon juice, vinegar, or buttermilk to curdle milk next time you make paneer. Store it in the fridge for up to a week.
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The homemade paneer can be frozen for up to a month before use.
Check out how to make paneer in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Urdu etc by using the Google translate button in the sidebar.
