Homemade paneer

Much like baking your own bread, there is a huge sense of accomplishment to making your own cheese. Even one as simple as paneer.

{paneer}

Paneer is the fresh cheese used in many Indian recipes. It takes two ingredients that you can purchase at any minimart, virtually no skills, and very little time in the kitchen. If you serve it to people, they are almost universally awed.

{curds, whey}

You need: whole milk + lime juice. For every half gallon of milk you need the juice from one lime. Easy to remember, right?
Basic* directions: Boil the milk, turn the heat down slightly and add the acid, then stir and wait until large curds form and separate out. Pour it into a cheesecloth (I used a lightweight dish towel, because I don't have cheesecloth) and let it drip for half an hour. Stick in the fridge for a few hours to chill and solidify.

{paneer hanging}

We were having company, so I used a full gallon of milk and got a ball of paneer that I could cup with two hands, enough to make six good sized servings. Yes, it takes a lot of milk for not a huge amount of cheese. And it's totally worth it. We used it to make paneer curry with peas. It was delicious.

{paneer, cut}

Generally, I like my cheese salty, but paneer seems to be traditionally unsalted. And this is fine, really, because it's mostly used in dishes with tons of spice and their own dose of salt. But if I were to want to snack on it, I think I would add a bit of salt.

*For a wonderfully detailed description of the process, hop over here.