Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by Sarah
Main Dishes

Make Your Own Paneer Cheese

Hi Everyone!  This morning I have a really exciting post to share.  After trying Matter Paneer at an Indian restaurant I decided that it would be a really good dish to make for Fridays during lent.  But I couldn’t find Paneer anywhere, even at Wegmans!  So, I decided to make my own, and the process was surprisingly easy and super exciting!  And how cool is it to say “I made cheese today!”?

Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by SarahIn this post, I am going to explain how to make the cheese, and next week I will share my recipe for Matter Paneer.  So, some of you might be wondering what exactly paneer is.  It is an Indian cheese, that is kind of hard and does not melt.  It is really delicious and mild and is surprisingly easy to make!  Here is the recipe!

Yield: 10oz

Make Your Own Paneer Cheese

Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by Sarah

This recipe explains how to make paneer cheese from scratch.

Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 1/2 gallon of whole milk
  • 2-3 Tbsp of lemon juice
  • salt
  • cheese cloth
  • colander

Instructions


Place the milk in a pot and heat just so that it boils and then take it off the heat.  I like to stir frequently with a whisk, scraping the bottom of the pot, so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot.  You need to make sure that you remove it from the heat immediately after it starts to bubble, otherwise the milk will easily boil over and make a huge mess!

Once you reach this stage, add the lemon juice and stir.  The milk should start to separate into curds and whey.  Keep stirring until the milk has completely separated.  If the milk does not separate completely, add some more lemon juice until it does.  See the picture below, for what the curds and whey should look like.  It is pretty amazing when it happens!

Once this has happened you will need to strain the curds from the whey.  I layer two sheets of cheese cloth in a colander and then pour the mixture in.  You can either save the whey to use for something else, or just place the colander in the sink and drain the whey.   At this point I also add some salt and stir it around in the whey.

Once the mixture is cool enough, bundle the cheese cloth up and squeeze out as much whey as possible.  Flatten the cheese into a 1" thick round disk, and place in a flat bowl.  Place another flat bowl on top and then weight it down with a large can or jar; I used canned tomatoes.  Let it press for at least 1 hour.  The paneer is now ready to use, or you can refrigerate it for up to a week!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1oz

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 132Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 162mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 10gProtein: 7g

Nutrition Information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.

Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by Sarah
This is what the curds and whey look like when they are separating.

 

Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by Sarah
Squeezing out the whey.

 

Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by Sarah
Pressing the paneer.

There are lots of dishes you can make with paneer.  Next week I am going to share my recipe for Matter Paneer, but there are also other dishes you can make, like Saag Paneer, or Paneer Butter Masala.

Here is a sneak peak of my Matter Paneer!

Make Your Own Paneer | Simply Scrumptious by Sarah

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