An excellent Paneer Recipe

Originally Posted by Karma mechanic

Pax,
I can't claim 50 years of experience but have been making paneer since I was 16. I always use full-fat milk (Gold top if at all possible) as it gives the best yield. I have successfully used semi-skimmed milk but have never got skimmed to work. I also use citric acid solution (1 teaspoon in a small glass of water) as the curd-initiator. It tends to give a better yield than other acids but because it is getting harder to get hold of (Boots no longer sell it) I tend to use lemon juice more often now but find I need more.

I bring the milk up to the boil and then let it cool - I have found that boiling milk tends to give large curds as does stronger acid. The test I use is if I can keep a finger (clean) in the milk for 5 seconds then it is at about the right temperature.

I normally decant pretty soon after adding the acid but I know my mother used to let it stay on the heat for a couple of minutes before decanting.

Decant into butter muslin draped over the colander and gather the ends of the muslin into a bag containing the curds. If you collect the whey you can try re-heating and adding more acid which might give you a small amount of micro curds but frankly, that is more trouble than it is worth. You can also use the whey with a little baking powder and whole meal flour to make a dough. Make patties and then deep fry them - v god with channa masala.

Drain the curds for 4hrs by hanging the muslin bag and then press with large weight at least overnight. This should give you a fairly compact and medium to large curd. Curd size appears to be dictated by acid strength and milk temperature - although if the milk is too cold you will get no curd at all.

After it has drained refrigerate (wrapped in clean muslin).

As to cooking:
Shallow fry three fistfuls of finely chopped onion in more butter or ghee than you think you will need (?2 tbsp) in a frying pan. When the onions are transparent add half to three-quarter of a teaspoon of turmeric and salt to taste. Cook the turmeric onion mix for a couple of minutes, add three handfuls of cheese (crumbled or diced), on red chilli sliced into rings (seeds, middle and all) and a fistful of coriander. Keeping the heat high keep stirring. The cheese will soften - break it down as you stir you are looking for the white to turn yellow and the first bits of cheese just start to go crunchy/golden brown at the edges.

Garnish wih more coriander and serve with either paratha or wrapped in a tortilla with a bit of tabasco for breakfast.