Punjabi Cottage cheese
Paneer is a wonderful option for vegetarians that can also act as a substitute in meat dishes, it's high in protein and a texture that is soft yet firm. The taste is mild which makes it a great pairing in flavorsome dishes.
A very versatile ingredient that can be made into Patties, Diced, or Grated. It is just as flexible when it comes to cooking too, grill it, fry it, barbeque or stew it!
Up until recently, I had been struggling to get consistent results when using lemon juice to curdle the milk, it's a little finicky to get just right. But I am grateful to Auntie (Resham Kaur) for offering this alternative that uses yogurt to curdle the milk. Results are consistent and you can reliably get the soft yet firm texture every time.
I won't be going back to lemon juice in a hurry but you can check out the 'Variations' section below to see the other ways that you can make it.
This recipe is quick to make so more reason to cook it at home yourself, you will definitely notice the difference, with no preservatives or enhancers, and made with ingredients that you know and trust.
Equipment
- Muslin cloth
- Large Saucepan
- Large sieve
Ingredients
- 1 cup Yogurt Full fat
- 1 litre Milk Full fat
Instructions
Curdle the milk
- Bring the milk to a boil and then bring it to a simmer.
- Add the yogurt, continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Gently stirring. In this time, you will see the milk curdling and the water separating.
- When the water has stopped separating turn off the flame.
Strain the curd
- Sit a Sieve on a large bowl or deep pan. And then line the Sieve with the Muslin cloth.
- Pour the curdled mixture into the Sieve allowing the Muslin cloth to hold curd.
- Lift the Muslin cloth from it's corners and twist the base, this will tighten the Paneer to force for whey to be released.
- Let it rest in the Sieve, and if possible you can put something heavy on it and allow as much more of the water to be strained out as possible.
- Allowing it to sit like this for 15 minutes will be more than enough.
Prepare the Paneer
- The Paneer should now be a nice firm texture.
- It is ready to be sliced and diced, but if you are going to grate it then you can put it in the fridge to stiffen it up before working with it.