Paneer Indian Cottage Cheese Recipes

PANEER CURRY (INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE CURRY)

Steps:

• First soak 12 to 15 cashews in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes.
• When the cashews are soaking, roughly chop 2 large tomatoes, 1 large onion, 1 inch ginger and 6 to 7 small to medium garlic cloves. Crush the ginger and garlic to a paste in mortar-pestle.
• In a blender jar or grinder jar, take the chopped onions. Without adding any water grind or blend to a smooth paste.
• Remove the onion paste in a bowl and keep aside.
• To the same grinder jar, add chopped tomatoes. Also add the soaked cashews.
• Again without adding any water, grind or blend both tomatoes and cashews to a smooth paste. Keep the jar aside.
• Heat tablespoons oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadai.
• Add the onion paste.
• On a low heat begin to sauté the onion paste. Keep on stirring often while sautéing the onion paste. Sauté till the onion paste becomes light golden or golden.
• Then add the crushed ginger-garlic paste. If using ready ginger-garlic paste, then add 1 teaspoon of it.
• Stir and saute for a few seconds or till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
• Now add the tomato+cashew paste. Be careful as the mixture can splutter.
• Mix everything very well and begin to saute the masala on a low flame.
• While the masala is getting sauteed, add 1.5 cups water in the grinder jar. Swirl the jar so that the tomato paste at the sides and at the bottom get mixed with the water. If you want you can even run the mixer once, so that everything gets mixed well. Keep aside.
• Saute the onion-tomato masala till you see some fat releasing from the sides. The masala will also become glossy.
• Then add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder.
• Stir and mix the spice powders very well.
• Add 1 or 2 slit green chilies.
• Add the water which was mixed with the leftover tomato+cashew paste in grinder jar.
• Season with salt as required. Also add 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves.
• On a low to medium heat, simmer the cottage cheese curry till it thickens a bit and you see oil specks on top.
• Then add paneer cubes.
• Add ½ teaspoon kasuri methi, which has been crushed. Mix well and switch off the heat.
• Then add 2 tablespoons low fat cream or light cream or 1 tablespoon of whipping cream.
• Mix the cream very well with the rest of the cottage cheese curry. Switch off the heat.
• Serve paneer curry garnished with some coriander leaves accompanied with chapati, paratha, naan or steamed rice or cumin rice or saffron rice.

PANEER: HOMEMADE INDIAN CHEESE

Steps:

• Line a large colander with a large double layer of cheesecloth, and set it in your sink.
• In a large wide pot, bring the milk to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom (a nonstick pot works really well for this purpose). This will take a little while so be patient!
• Add the lemon juice and turn the heat down to low. Stirring gently, you should almost immediately see the curds (white milk solids) and whey (the greenish liquid) separate. Don't fret, this is perfect!
• Remove the pot from the heat and carefully pour the contents into the cheesecloth-lined colander. Gently rinse with cool water to get rid of the lemon flavor. At this point, you could squeeze out some of the liquid, and serve with some honey and some nuts, almost like a fresh ricotta!
• Grab the ends of the cheesecloth and twist the ball of cheese to squeeze out the excess whey. Tie the cheesecloth to your kitchen faucet and allow the cheese to drain for about 5 minutes.
• Twisting the ball to compact the cheese into a block, place it on a plate with the twisted part of the cheesecloth on the side (this will ensure your block of cheese is nice and smooth!) and set another plate on top. Weigh the second plate down with cans of beans or a heavy pot. Move to the refrigerator and let it sit about 20 minutes.
• Unwrap your beautiful disc of homemade cheese! You did it! You can now use this in any number of traditional Indian dishes, like saag paneer.

PANEER ( INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE)

Steps:

• Bring the milk to the boil. Add the vinegar or lemon juice, and wait until the solids shift from the whey. If this does not happen after a minute or so, add some more juice or vinegar.
• Now put a clean cloth in a sieve and poor the fluid through the sieve.
• After one hour, the cheese will be like cottage cheese, especially if you add some salt and a few tablespoons cream.
• If you wait longer and put a weight on top, it will be firm white cheese.