Recipe - Paneer (Indian Cheese)

8 cup Whole or lowfat milk; not
skim
4 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice; OR
3 tablespoon Cider vinegar mixed with 3
T. water, OR
1 cup Plain yogurt

Bring the 8 cups of milk (whole or low fat, skim doesn't work) to a boil in
a deep heavybottomed 34 quart saucepan or casserole, stirring often to
prevent sticking. Reduce heat and add _one_ of the abovelisted starters:
(lemon juice is my favorite, and I only use 2 3 T Holly)

Stir gently until white curds form and separate from the greenishyellow
whey (about 10 seconds if using lemon juice or 30 seconds if using
alternatives). Once the curds begin to form, the contents of the pan should
be stirred very slowly & gently, as though stroking it, so that the freshly
formed fragile curds do not disintegrate into small pieces. The curds
should be in lumps. Immediately turn off the heat.

Pour the cheese and whey through a colander or large sieve, lined with a
thin fabric or 4 layers of cheesecloth and placed in the kitchen sink. Save
the whey if desired to use within 24 hours to make the next batch of cheese
(use instead of other starters) or make rice (subbing for plain water) or
soup or whatever.

Hold the colander or sieve under the tap & let cold water run, at medium
flow, through the curds in the cheesecloth for 10 seconds to wash away
whatever remains of the smell of lemon juice, vinegar, or yogurt. Bring up
the 4 corners of the cheesecloth & tie them together. Gently twist to
extract as much water as possible. Hang the cheesecloth to drain for 1 1/2
hours. (Julie suggests the door handle on a kitchen cabinet directly over
the sink, I just hang the bag from the sink faucet Holly).

At this point the drained, crumbly cheese is called chenna. You can stop
here & flavor the chenna to taste and use as a spread, dip, whatever you
like. To make the cheese into cakes (paneer), set the cheese still in the
cheesecloth on a clean flat surface and place a weight (such as a large
pot filled with water, or a big plate covered with heavy cans) on it for
One half an hour. Remove the weight, take the compressed chesse out of the
cheesecloth, and place it back on the flat surface. With a sharp knife cut
the cheese into neat rectangles. Paneer keeps well in the refrigerator for
4 days.

Note: Even though exact amounts of starter are called for, sometimes the
curd forms before all the starter has ben incorporated. If that happens, do
NOT incorporate the full amount of starter, as that only hardens the curd.
Alternatively, if you use the full amount & curds don't form, just keep
adding a little more until the curds do form.

NOTES : Formatted by Holly Butman

Recipe by: Julie Sahni, Classic Indian Cooking

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #811 by Holly Butman
butma001@acpub.duke.edu on Sep 27, 1997