How to make Home-Made Paneer or Cottage Cheese

I tried my hand at making Paneer for the first time when I made Palak Paneer just a few days ago. The inspiration being a local company that delivers organic vegetables & organic fresh milk. I ordered some spinach & the buffalo milk for a trial, and instantly the thing that came to my mind was to make Palak Paneer and also try my hand at making Paneer.

Paneer is a soft fresh Indian cottage cheese which can be easily made using milk & acid together. It's quite popular in Indian cuisine, specifically in North India due to the fact that its a healthy & delicious vegetarian menu. Some of the popular dishes range from Paneer Tikka, Paneer Pakora's (Fritters), Paneer Butter Masala, Palak Paneer & Aalo Matar Paneer (Peas and Potatoes with Paneer). In fact, I think its a much vegetarian alternative to tofu since not only is it easy to make but is delicious eaten on its own as well, or grilled or fried. 

Furthermore, for a bit of extra flavor, flavored paneer can also be made by adding spices or herbs. For example, the first time I made Paneer was basic plain flavored paneer and the next time I added fresh coriander (dhaniya) & some crushed red chilli flakes to give it just a little bit of kick. I was always a big fan of Paneer, but ever since I tried making it at home, there's definitely going to be no store-bought Paneer for me. 

Flavored Chilli & Coriander Paneer

How to Make Home Made Paneer 
Yields approx. 200-225 grams of Paneer from 1 litre milk

Update: Have found a supplier that delivers fresh hormone-free cow's milk to my place; Good quality milk which is convenient & affordable. Details are available at the end of this post.
Ingredients:
1 litre full-cream milk; its necessary to make sure that the milk is fresh - tetra-pak milk  cannot be used
Acid Ingredient - One of the following
2 tsp lemon juice or 2 tsp fresh yoghurt or 2 tsp vinegar
Flavorings (Optional) - Finely chopped fresh coriander, red chilli flakes, black pepper, salt etc
Flavorings - finely chopped garlic with red chilli pepper; finely chopped garlic with chopped green chilli;

Equipment Required: 
Muslin Cloth/Cheesecloth - Muslin cloth is basically 'malmal' in Urdu - so any clean & washed old Dupatta or fabric lying around can be used
Heavy Weight - A Mortar is good for pressing down the Paneer or desi Sil-Batta.

Note: It is not necessary to add flavorings in the Paneer, but since I had taken pictures of this version, this is what I posted. I think it makes the procedure much more simpler when explaining with pictures.

Method:
1 - Pour the 1 litre milk in a medium sized pan and put to boil. If using finely chopped garlic as a flavoring agent, then add now so that the raw garlic can cook for a bit & infuse the milk. 
2 - Line a sieve with muslin cloth/cheese cloth & put it over a big bowl. 
3 - Make sure that you keep standing next to the stove, since the milk can boil over anytime.
4 - Once small bubbles start appearing at the edge of the pot and the milk is about to start boiling, add flavorings if using. For example, in this recipe, I used 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp crushed red chilli flakes, & 1 tsp of fresh corriander leaves.

Light Boil - Added the spices & herbs

Time to add the the acid when the milk starts boiling 

5 - Once the milk starts boiling, turn the heat to low to make sure it doesn't boil over. Add the acid ingredient (lemon juice) and keep stirring. The milk should curdle/separate as soon as the lemon juice has been added. Stir continously until the milk is completely curdled and the water (whey) turns yellow-green in color. In case the milk does not curdle then add a few more drops of lemon juice till the milk has curdled and the water turns yellow-green. 

Curdled Milk with White Curds Separated & Greenish Yellow Liquid Remaining

6 - Remove from heat. 
7 - Pour the mixture into the sieve lined with a muslin cloth.
8 - Drain the whey/yellow liquid. 
9 - Tie up the cheesecloth/muslin in a tight bundle and hang it for about 15-20 minutes so that the moisture is drained. Alternatively, you can just lift it up, close the muslin cloth & squeeze the moisture as much as possible.

Paneer with the whey drained

10 - Then place the cheesecloth on a flat surface and place a weight on it so that the cheese gets flatter and any additional moisture is drained. Keep it for about 30 minutes.
11 - Once the paneer is set, it can be cut into cubes of any shape to be used.

Set Paneer ready to cut into cubes

12 - Keep the Paneer in the refrigerator in an airtight container. 
13 - It will stay fresh for 3-4 days.
14 - Use the Paneer to make Palak Paneer, grill it for sandwiches or use to make gravies.

Sources for Fresh Hormone-Free Cow's Milk
While you can purchase cow's milk from the nearby milk shop, there is a new supplier that I discovered that delivers it to my place and it is also hormone-free. Have been using the milk since end May 2014, and so far its pretty good. Details for getting delivery done given below:

Puro
Pure Cow Milk
For information and free home delivery:
UAN: 11-11-DAIRY (11-11-32479)
Email: customer.care@fd.com.pk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purodairy
Some Tips:
1 - Use good quality fresh milk. I used Buffalo milk for the first time which yielded a slightly creamier & white colored Paneer.
2 - Either yoghurt, lemon juice or vinegar can be used to curdle the milk. If yoghurt is used, then it should be fresh. Its best to add 1 tsp at a time to see when the milk curdles. If the milk has not curdled, then another tsp needs to be used. The milk will completely curdle when the water turns a light green/yellow color. 
3 - Remove immediately & drain once the milk has curdled otherwise if the milk is overcooked, it will lead to a hard Paneer.
4 - Once you get the hang of making Paneer, keep experimenting with flavors and try them out in different recipes. 
5 - The leftover liquid/whey can be used for making roti's (making the dough) or added to veggies/gravies or used to water plants. 

Palak Paneer / Spinach with Cottage Cheese

Yes, I know. I keep pulling a disappearing every few weeks or so, but then I try to compensate by posting a number of recipes in one go :). This time I am posting a really delicious vegetarian recipe - palak/spinach with paneer/cottage cheese. I personally don't like spinach, but this is one dish which I love spinach in - the spinach is grinded into a paste & the creaminess of the paneer/cottage cheese contrast beautifully making this a delicious vegetarian main course.
Also, this time instead of buying store-bought paneer/cottage cheese I experimented in making my own and I could not believe how good it was - it was so fresh & creamy & delicious and the best part is that it can easily be adapted in different flavors - a little bit of herbs to make Masala Paneer & some crushed red pepper to make Chilli Paneer. Will be posting the recipe soon & keep on experimenting with new flavors & recipes. 

Recipe for Home-Made Paneer Updated: http://kayshouseoftreats.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-to-make-home-made-paneer-or-cottage.html

Palak Paneer - Spinach with Cottage Cheese

Ingredient 
Spinach - 2 large bunches
Paneer (cottage cheese) - 200 grams (Store-bought or Home-Made)
Recipe for Home-Made Paneer: http://kayshouseoftreats.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-to-make-home-made-paneer-or-cottage.html
Corn flour - for coating paneer/cottage cheese
Green chillies - 2-3 (roughly chopped)
Garlic - 6 cloves (finely chopped)
Onion - about 1/2 a medium onion (finely chopped)
Oil - 3 tablespoons
Cumin seeds/Zeera - 1/2 teaspoon
Crushed Red Chilli Pepper - 1 tsp (optional to make it more spicy)
Salt - to taste (about 2 tsp)
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Fresh cream - 4 tablespoons (optional)
For Prep: Pot of boiling water a pot of ice-cold water for blanching
                     Oil for shallow frying paneer/cottage cheese

METHOD
Put a pan of salted water on boil. Remove stems of spinach & thoroughly in running water. Blanch in salted boiling water for two minutes. Take spinach out of the boiling water and immediately add it in the ice-cold water. Drain & squeeze out excess water. The reason that it is added in cold water after boiling is so that the beautiful green color of the spinach is retained.

Blend/Grind spinach into a fine paste along with green chillies. This step can be done ahead and the spinach/green chili paste can be kept in the refrigerator for about 2 days. 

Chop paneer into one inch by one inch by half inch pieces. Toss in cornflour to coat & shallow-fry in hot oil till brown on all sides. Drain paneer on a kitchen towel and keep aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet/wok/pot. Add cumin seeds. When they begin to change colour, add chopped garlic and sauté for half a minute. Add chopped onion and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes till light golden. Add the spinach puree and mix well. Keep the heat on low the spinach puree has a habit of sputtering and that gets messy. 

Add salt & red chilli flakes & adjust seasoning if required. Add water if required. When the gravy comes to a boil, stir in lemon juice. Add half of the paneer and mix. Garnish with remaining paneer & cream & serve.

Note: The paneer and cream should be added at the last minute, so that it can remain the crisp texture. My usual habit is to make the spinach mixture, and then re-heat it just before serving and pouring it in a dish. After that I add the paneer and/or cream and serve.