How to make Paneer at Home

Very simple traditional method where you can derive a good 200 grams from 1 litre of milk. I will suggest you to use whole milk for the recipe to derive good quantity of paneer out of it.

Makes between 200-300 grams
Ingredients:
1 litre whole milk
2 big lemons or ½ tablespoon of citric acid
cheese cloth or cotton cloth

Process: Pour the milk in a medium sized pot and keep the heat on low. The milk while gently cooking will eventually rise to the surface. That time you turn off the stove and squeeze the lemon juice (or add the citric acid) in it, making sure to remove the seeds first.
Stir the milk slowly for 2 minutes and you will notice the curd separating from the milk. Take a cheese cloth or cotton cloth and place it over a big bowl. Pour slowly the milk mixture. This will leave the curd in the cloth and all whey will be drained in the bowl.
Close all the ends of the cloth and tie it tightly with a rubber band.
(Be cautious as the whey and curd are very hot, so you may wear some rubber gloves if you cannot handle the heat).
You may put the tied curd in a strainer and let the remaining whey drip in the initial bowl. After 30 minutes when there is no more whey dripping and the curd is cool down completely, take a plastic mat or cutting board. Place the tied curd on it.
Open the rubber band and you will see the curd has accumulated together and formed a big ball.
Now you may gently cut the curd into cube sizes and store it in a plastic ziplock bag for nearly a week and use whenever needed.
You may also store it in the freezer for not more than 1 month, even though the paneer will still be good but its always best to consume dairy fresh. The left out whey can be stored in a glass jar and can be preserved for several months.
This whey can be used in making breads, smoothies, curried gravy sabjis and many other things as they are highly rich in protein.

Note: If you are not using non-stick pot then you may add 1 cup of water first in the pot and then pour the milk, this will avoid the burning of the milk at the bottom. Always tie the cloth when the curds are hot because that helps the curds to stick together and form a ball.

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