Making Indian Paneer Cheese

 Paneer is an Indian cheese that is easy to make and delicious!

Bring milk to a gentle boil.

Bring Your milk to a gentle boil in a non-reactive pot such as stainless steel or porcelain coated.

Stir gently to keep from scalding with a stainless steel spoon.

If you are not using raw milk then add 1/4 tsp calcium chloride mixed in 1/4 c cold sterilized water,  Stir gently for a minute to combine.

Cheese curds forming.

Add 5 Tsp lemon juice, one at a time, stirring just once or twice to mix lemon juice between each addition.



Turn off your heat immediately.



You can see the curds beginning to form. Allow to sit for 20 minutes.

Spoon curds into a colander  or sieve with a slotted metal spoon into

 lined with 2 layers of cheese cloth or a single  layer of butter muslin.  

Cheese curds draining over sieve.

Allow to drain over a pan for 20 minutes.   

I give the whey to my chickens or my garden. Don't dump it down the drain!  It's power packed with nutrients.  

You can add about a teaspoon of salt at this point a little at a time, being sure to mix by turning and squashing with a fork.

Draining whey from cheese curds.

Gather the ends of the cloth together and twist at the top and give a little squeeze.


 This will allow the whey to drain out a bit.

Cheese curds drained.

Take your ball of cheese curds and lay it out on a baking sheet as shown- still in the cloth.

At this point you can simply take another cookie sheet and squash your cheese with it until its about 3/4 of an inch thick.  If you like you can open up the cloth and form the edges neatly with your hands.

I like to form it into a rectangle by placing it in the glass container that I will be storing it in.  I do this by placing the ball with cloth inside of the container (you can use whatever shape you like), I open up the cloth and press the cheese into the form. 

Once you have your desired shape place on a cookie sheet wrapped in the cloth. Place a cookie sheet on top with a few heavy books.

Let it cure for an hour or so (up to 5).  The longer you cure it, the firmerit will be. You can then remove the cloth and store in the fridge or cut up immediately to eat on anything.  My favorite is to make a curry and add into the hot mix for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Keeps in fridge for up to a week.