Fresh home cheese paneer indispensable attribute of Indian cuisine. Despite the exotic name, there is nothing difficult in its preparation. And today we will tell you how to make a paneer at home. This cheese is universal, it is delicious in and of itself, and as an additive to soups and vegetable dishes. Sweets are made from it and added to salads, it can be boiled and fried.
How to cook a cheese paneer?
Ingredients:
- milk - 1 liter.
For ripening:
- lemon juice - 2 tbsp. spoons;
- or citric acid - 1 teaspoon;
- or yogurt "live" -150 ml;
- or kefir - 150 ml;
- or a serum - 250 ml.
Preparation
Milk is poured into a suitable pan (we take it in reserve so it does not run away) and put it on medium fire. When it starts to rise, we add the fermenting component, and here there are some subtleties:
- Citric acid must be previously dissolved in warm water in the proportion of a tablespoon of water per teaspoon of acid. We pour the solution into the milk in a thin trickle, stirring constantly, until it completely coagulates. Do not overdo it with acid! Its excess will give a badly formed paneer with grains;
- With the help of natural yoghurt you can get a thicker and more soft cheese. Yogurt should be diluted with a small amount of warm milk first, and then poured into a saucepan;
- if you choose kefir, it is important that it is room temperature;
- to whet the milk, you can use the serum, which is left from the previous "kneading". But at the same time it should be kept for at least 24 hours (and preferably two) in a warm place;
- if the milk is added turmeric, the cheese will turn yellow and turn out to be more crumbly.
As soon as the cottage cheese separates from the transparent yellowish-green serum, remove the pan from the fire. If overexposed, the paneer will come out too harsh. Unfortunately, store milk is not always possible to ferment because of the preservatives added to extend the shelf life. If the whey remains whitish, leave the saucepan for several hours until a dense curd layer forms on the surface.
We throw the panier into a colander, covered with a double layer of gauze. If you want to get a hard cheese, we tie gauze and place the cottage cheese under the press. The longer it is maintained so, the denser it becomes. To get a soft panier, just tighten the gauze and squeeze out excess moisture with your hands.
The serum formed in the process is not waste products. It can be added to the dough, cooked on it, or used for the next milking of milk.
Fried panier
Home-made cheese paneer does not melt at all and does not lose shape when frying. In a skillet, with butter and spices, it acquires a very unusual taste. How to cook a solid fried panier, it is not difficult to guess. We cut into slices or small cubes, we roll in seasonings - and on a frying pan. With soft cheese everything is somewhat different, so we will dwell on it in more detail.
Ingredients:
- paneer (soft) - 200 g;
- ghee (creamy butter) - 1 teaspoon;
- cumin-1/2 teaspoons;
- ground black pepper - 1 whisper;
- turmeric - 1/4 tsp.
- parsley - 1/2 beam;
- sour cream (homemade) - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
- salt - 1/4 tsp.
Preparation
The oil "ghee" can be replaced with the usual olive oil. Fry it with cumin, over a great fire, stirring constantly, until golden brown, until the seasoning gives all its flavor to the oil. Add the paneer, sprinkle with salt and turmeric. We stir and fry for a few minutes. Remove from heat, add sour cream, pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. In India, they prefer coriander greens, but we have difficulty getting it, so we are satisfied with what we have.
Preparation of a panier with spinach ("Palak panir")
Ingredients:
- spinach - 700 g;
- paneer - 250 g;
- sour cream - 1/4;
- oil "ghee" - 2 tbsp. spoons;
- onion - 1 piece;
- cinnamon - 1/4 tsp spoon;
- cardamom (ground) - 1/4 tsp;
- ginger (ground) - 1 teaspoon;
- garlic -3 cloves;
- tomatoes - 3 pcs .;
- paprika powder - 1/5 tsp;
- yoghurt - 3 tbsp. spoons;
- a mixture of "garamma bacon" - 1/5 tsp spoon;
- coriander - 1 bunch;
- salt - to taste.
Preparation
Spinach washed, chopped and stewed with the addition of 3 tablespoons of water. We remove from the fire, as soon as it changes color. On melted butter fry to the clarity finely chopped onions with the addition of ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. After that, we put finely chopped garlic and tomato slices to the onions. We fasten the fire to a minimum. Add yogurt, remaining spices and spinach. Stew under the closed lid for 20 minutes and remove from the plate. When the mixture has cooled slightly, grind it in a blender to a puree state and return it to the sauté pan with a small fire. Add sour cream, diced cheese and stew for another 5 minutes. Ready panak pannir sprinkled with cilantro.