Photo above: Roadside restaurant on the windy and treacherous road from Rishikesh to Gangotri in the Himalayas.  The food was excellent.

Link to Cheese Making Home Page

How to Make Paneer (or Panir) at Home

A food that I learned to love during my trips to India, is paneer, a fresh cheese that can be cooked in many ways, and which is a great cheese for serving as part of many Indian dishes along with their amazing sauces.  Paneer can be cooked or fried without melting.  This cheese can be made with whole goat's milk or whole cow's milk.

Toggenburg goats at Swiss Frau Farm near Rubicon Wisconsin. I drive over to this farm for the pasteurized goat milk I use for cheese making. The cheese below was made with milk that was milked the same day. It is a lovely farm.

STEP 1: Sterilize the work area and counters where you will be working.  Also sterilize all pots, containers and utensils that will come into contact with any ingredients.  I use Star-san, but there are many sterilizing products, including diluted bleach, available.

STEP 2: Measure out a 1/2 cup of lemon juice

STEP 3: Over medium heat, heat 1 gallon of whole milk (goat or cows) until it just barely starts to boil

STEP 4: Pull the milk off the heat and thoroughly stir-in the 1/2 cup of lemon juice.  Keep stirring until it is distributed throughout the milk.  It will curdle immediately and separate out into solid curds and liquid whey.  Keep off the heat and let rest for 1/2 hour, stirring gently every 8-10 minutes.

Lemon juice quickly curdles the milk when making paneer.

STEP 5: Line a colander with cheese cloth.  Pour the curds and whey into the colander to stain the curds from the whey.

STEP 6:  The curds will be hot and they will still retain very hot whey, so carefully grab the edges of the cheese cloth and compress the curds to squeeze out some whey.  I squeeze from the top so that the hot whey doesn't drip on me.

Squeezing whey from the fresh curds.

STEP 7: Salt the curds with 1/2 teaspoon of cheese salt or pickling salt. Gently stir in the salt to distribute it throughout the curds.

STEP 8: Press the cheese into a flat block.  Using your fingers press the curds into a solid mass.  Wrap the curds in cheesecloth and press them into a flat block about an inch thick.  If you do not have a press, you could press the cheese between two plates or two flat cookie sheets or anything like that.  I made a simple rectangular press for Paneer and Feta, out of hardwood.  Press it for 20 minutes, then carefully remove the cheese; keeping it in one piece, flip it over and put it back in the press and press again for 20 minutes.

Hardwood paneer cheese press, also works for pressing feta. I drilled the drain holes at a downhill slop so that whey drains freely out of the holes.

Line the press with cheese cloth, then fill it with curds and use your hands to press the curds into a solid flat mass. Then fold the cheesecloth over the top. Cut off any excess loose ends of the cheese cloth, otherwise they will make dents in the top of your cheese.

Here is the cheese block after 20 minutes, leave it in the cheese cloth, flip it over, and press for another 20 minutes.

STEP 9: Remove the cheese from the press, lay it on a cutting board, and slice into square pieces

Fresh homemade paneer

STEP 10:  Enjoy!  Your yummy paneer is ready to eat and cook with.  Keep it in the refrigerator (in a tight container or wrapped in something to keep it sealed.  There are many exciting Indian recipes to make.  My favorite ones involve frying the paneer to a golden brown on all sides and then serving as part of a dish with tasty sauces.