Paneer

Preparation Time : 5 mins      |      Cooking Time : 15 mins 

Ingredients :  

​Method :

1. Boil milk for 5 mins & then simmer it.
2. Add 1/4 cup of beaten curd, keep stirring and then add the next 1/4 cup  OR ​ add lemon juice 1 tbsp by 1 tbsp.
3. Continue heating till it starts curdling, keep stirring until the whey water completely separates. At this stage switch off the stove and add ice cubes. 
4. Place a cheese cloth or thin cotton cloth over a container and strain the paneer. If lemon juice is used to curdle, then wash it twice at least in cold water to get rid of the lemon flavor. 
5. Bring the edges of the cloth to the center, squeeze out, tie a knot and hang it in the sink tap. Allow the water to drip by itself, do not disturb the setup for 2-3 hours till all the whey water completely drips.
6. Place it in a flat platform (dosa tawa) and put a flat weight over it. It will look crumbled at this stage, later it will get set well. Allow it to get set for at least 3 hours. 
7. Then carefully remove the cloth from the paneer, cut into desired cubes using knife. Also refrigerate before cutting and cut when ever require to use the paneer.

​Notes :

• Always prefer to use a full fat cream milk in order to get more volume of paneer.
• Paneer can be stored for 5 -6 days in the refrigerator.
• To use it from refrigerator, just immerse in hot water(not boiling) until use.
• Also keeping in fridge before cutting into cubes gives neat pieces.
• Make sure that the cheese cloth or thin cotton cloth is long enough to get tied up after straining the paneer.
• If using any flat weight, make sure to put a tissue over the cloth before placing the weight. This prevents any dirts sticking over the cloth / paneer.
• ​Make sure to hang for at least 3 hours. And also setting time should at least 3 hours. More the time, better the texture & smoothness of the paneer.
• 1/4 cup curd is enough to curdle, but to curdle quickly just add 1/2 cup curd and also get little more volume of paneer.
• Add 1/2 tsp of corn flour or all purpose flour (maida) in milk. This is used as binding agent and also prevents the paneer from crumbling. 
• Color of the paneer may vary with the type of milk used.
• Take care to wrap it to form a circle / square so that while cutting into pieces it is easy to form squares.
• Also allow the paneer to come to room temperature before cutting it to avoid paneer from crumbling.
• The whey water can be used for making chapati dough. 
• Adding ice cubes helps to cool down the heat easily.