fun with cheese!

[cellio]

magid recently linked to this recipe for making paneer, an Indian cheese. I like mattar paneer and generally use soft mozzerella for the cheese, so I decided to try making my own.

I started by boiling half a gallon of milk in an enamel pot (the only non-reactive dairy pot I have). A little milk burned onto the bottom of the pot, but it didn't affect the flavor and it came off after a soak and a scrub, so no harm done. First you bring the milk to a boil:
Then you add the lime juice and stir for several minutes. I thought the curds would get bigger, so when they didn't I added more juice, which was probably unnecessary.
This is what I got for curds. (For calibration, it's a four-quart pot.)
Someone was very interested in the proceedings:
After making curds and letting them sit undisturbed for a while, it was time to gather the curds in cheesecloth. The collander was to keep the cloth from going astray; the bowl was in case it looked like further processing of the whey would be relevant. (It wasn't -- nice and clear.)
Tie loosely and let drain for half an hour.
Wrap tightly to squeeze out remaining liquid and form a ball.
The ball that resulted half an hour later was pretty solid. I'm not sure, but it might have been too dry. The next step was to refrigerate for a few hours.
Now, on to the mattar paneer. The cheese crumbled a tiny bit while slicing, but held together.
Add the cheese to the skillet:
Yum!

Comments

[cellio]

Yeah, just lime juice -- I had no idea you could do that. (I don't know if lime is special or if any citrus will do.)

The cheese is kind of bland, which I expected for something with two ingredients and no aging. In the mattar paneer, though, it was pretty much perfect -- it soaked up the spices, which is what I suspect it's supposed to do, and had a nice texture after cooking.

I used about two-thirds of the ball in the mattar paneer. The page I linked to suggests frying the cheese, so I held some back to try that. (Haven't done that yet, though.)

I have no idea how long the cheese keeps in the fridge. Mine is only going to last a few days. :-)

[geekosaur]

Any citrus will do but will change the flavor; lime is traditional for paneer but I've heard of lemon and citron juice being used (hey, you always wondered what to do with the etrog afterward, right? :) — I'd imagine orange would produce a rather odd tasting paneer, though.

The key is acid, so even vinegar will work.

[hlinspjalda.livejournal.com]

I've used lemon juice and, in a pinch, cider vinegar. Lime juice sounds much nicer,though; I didn't know it was traditional.

I make mine into a flat cake and press it for a couple of hours. That way you get chunks that are something like tofu, or like the neat rectangular pieces I see in some Indian restaurants. I really like the look of the ball, though.