Homemade Paneer

Paneer is one of popular Indian Food.The shape similar with tofu,only the taste is different,as paneer made from milk while tofu is made from soy beans.
Please check wikipedia for more info.

1st time I had paneer, while I was travelling to India with Air India. First time I saw paneer,and enjoyed so much,hubby told me that it was paneer.
2nd time was when one auntie in Panama,invited us for a welcome dinner party,she served Paneer with gravy tomato sauce which is so delicious. Ah, it was a perfect dinner for us.

Then a year after,I was so thrilled to make Paneer,curiosity as if I asked how to make paneer and the answer only its complicated,u have to see,if I want to make then I call u to see,but no one call to tell hey im going to make paneer, do come.
For how long I have to wait?? then one day when I was chatting with my friend in msn, I asked her bout paneer, and she told me, u have to boil milk,put vinegar,strain with muslin cloth,put heavy dish on top, and paneer ready.
From her explanation, I thought Its very easy,what looks so complicated? So I asked my hubby to find muslin cloth as I felt ready to make paneer.

Then,one afternoon,
Batch 1 :I boil the milk, and put vinegar,and why its still milk? then i called to this auntie,when my milk still on the stove and she gave me the instruction with phone only.
Batch 2:Boiling milk again, put vinegar, theres crumble. And called her again, auntie, now what should I do? why only crumble i get not a paneer? And she told me, that crumble gonna be a paneer with a process.

And now,here I am, with practice finally I could make a better firmness from the 1st one,(still wondering why difficult to make all in a perfect shape)and want to share it, hopefully it could help you.





You need to prepare:

Milk
Vinegar/lemon juice
Muslin Cloth/Cheese Cloth
Spoon
heavy dish.

1. You have to boil the milk.
2. When milk is rising, DROP IN THE VINEGAR.U COULD STIR WITH SPOON for awhile,cook for 1minute and off the gas. Let it sit on stove for a while.
3. Prepare the muslin cloth in the strainer.
4. Pour the crumble milk in the cloth. Discard the water.
5. Press the crumbs,(cover it)to drain water inside the crumb,while u doing this u could also make a shape.
6. Put something heavy on the paneer. Let it stand for around 20minutes to make it firm.
7. Open the cloth,u could see the firmness.
8. Cut it, and keep in fridge in a tight container until u r ready to cook them. Or, no need to cut just keep together with the cloth.

Paneer goes well with spinach,theres Palak Paneer(spinach puree with paneer),Paneer in gravy tomato sauce,pakoras( paneer fritter),whatever u want. I put paneer in my pasta.

For additional info, in India,Domino Pizza has a spicy paneer pizza which is very delicious.
Paneer pizza from Pizza Hut was so-so for me.

Alright,hopefully its helpful & Have a nice weekend.