Homemade paneer triumph

Homemade paneer, pictured with garden-fresh herbs

I have to be upfront. I don't want to disparage you from making paneer, that wonderful Indian cheese, but it did take me an hour stirring the milk as it boiled (granted I did make a double-batch). The 10-year-old owl-cat, old-soul that he is, said, "Was that really worth your time?" Perhaps because it had turned out well, I could give an optimistic answer, but at that moment it struck me that even had it not turned out well, I would still have said it was worth my time. That is a fine measure for a hobby or passion or addiction--whatever we are going to label this food-experiment thing.

Musings aside, this cheese was delicious. I made it to cube and turn into Saag Paneer (a.k.a. Palek Paneer), one of the best things Indian cuisine has done to spinach. It was heavenly for this purpose, but there are a number of other ways to eat it. (Many are listed in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.)

Before trying out this recipe, this video is a great introduction to making paneer. 

Homemade Paneer

adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian; Note: I doubled the recipe to good effect.

1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk

3-4 tablespoons white vinegar

0. Line a colander with cheesecloth. Place colander over large bowl.

1. Heat milk in large pot over medium heat.

2. Stir gently to keep milk from burning on the bottom of the pot. (I read nonstick may work well, but I don't have a large nonstick pan.)

3. Keep stirring. Read a cookbook while to wait. Or Crime and Punishment.

4. Keep stirring. Not vigorously, just a gentle motion along the bottom of the pot.

5. When the milk boils, stir in 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Stir. It will start to curdle. It will look like cottage cheese swimming in a yellow liquid. You may need to add another tablespoon of vinegar if it does not curdle.

6. Strain the curds through the colander. Keep the yellow liquid (whey) for making bread if you do that kind of thing.

7. Now you can use the curds as is or fully drain the curds, twist the cheesecloth so that you have a nice round bundle of cheese. 

8. Place your cheese bundle on a plate, cover with another plate, and weight it down with whatever will hold still. Small children are not good at this task. 5-lb dumbbells are as would be several of Owl's more hearty tomes of philosophy.

9. After 5-10 minutes you have paneer.