Homemade Paneer: A Creamy, Lemon-ey Delight

I just wrote a post about my favourite quick snack: paneer bhurji rolls. As a companion post, I thought it would make sense to write about how to make paneer at home. It’s actually very easy and absolutely worth it, given how amazing fresh paneer tastes!

All you need is:

2 litres whole milk

1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice (you could also use lime juice)

Salt (optional)

A cheese cloth

A colander

A large saucepan

Two plates

Heavy books

Method:

1. Pour the milk into the saucepan and bring it to simmer on medium heat (to about 200 F). Keep scraping the bottom of the pan so that the milk at the bottom doesn’t burn.
2. Take the pan off the heat.
3. Add the lime juice to the milk, place the lid on the pan and leave it be for about 10 minutes.
4. Check on the milk. It should have “broken” with the solids separated from the whey. If this has not happened. Add some more lime juice.
5. Strain the “broken” milk through a colander lined with a cheese cloth.
6. Then try and squeeze as much of the whey out as you can. I like to tie the ends of the cheese cloth to the top of the tap over my kitchen sink (very securely) so that gravity does the work for me and the whey just drips down slowly.
7. Once most of the whey is out, place the paneer (still wrapped in cheese cloth) on a plate. Place a second plate on top of the paneer. Then place some heavy books on top of the plate. I like to also place some paper towels on the lower plate around the paneer to soak up the extra whey.
8. In about 30 minutes, the paneer should have hardened into a nice block that you can now use 🙂