On a nice holiday, you wake up thinking of 'Palak Paneer' or 'Paneer Butter Masala' for lunch. But that Paneer you got last week is past the expiry date, now what do you do?? you already thought of a dish and visualized yourself eating it and the online delivery guy says the earliest available slot is next day. But you want to eat it NOW!! I have a recipe to save you from these problems and i assure you that you will never need to buy paneer from a store. You can make it alongside your gravy! that is why i say "If i can cook anyone can"
Did you know that Paneer is actually Persian Origin and derived from a Turkish word "peynir"
YES it is true!! you can make nice soft paneer in Flat 15 min! you start making your palak and on the side start off making Paneer! All it needs is milk, a spoon of curd and an agent to curdle it, i will explain to you what i did and you can modify it as per the available ingredients. There is very little to play with though. The only thing you can change is the source to curdle the milk.
I tried different combinations and finally zeroed in on the below. Also i did not have fresh lemon at home, used the store bought one.
What do we need to make soft Paneer?
- Milk (i used the Amul low fat one)
- Lemon juice (I used store bought)
- Yogurt / Curd (store bought)
How to make Softest homemade Paneer?
You already are in a state of surprise that this paneer is getting ready in less than 15 minutes, what if i tell you you do not need to do the muslin cloth. Yes you read it right, NO Muslin cloth.
The basic science to make paneer is to drain all the water out of the curdled milk. The Muslin cloth method is tried and tested grandmother's trick. But this is the FAST generation, we cannot look at the hanging potli for so many hours.
Making Paneer is not a Problem anymore. Try this method i am sure you will fall in love with it!
Step 1: Is to make a magic mixture to curdle the milk. In a bowl take some lemon Juice, store bought or fresh, both are just fine. Add curd to this, there is no ratio to this mixture. The idea is to curdle the milk. I did not measure just made the mix.
Let me explain why we add these:
Lemon: The juice of lemon has about 5% -6% of Citric Acid, this acid when it meets the milk curdles it.
Curd: This is a trick i picked up on a very popular food group i am a part of. Adding curd helps in making softer paneer. I tried both by adding curd and by not. Must admit, there is a slight difference and it does help in making softer paneer. Curd acts as a bacteria that helps in making Curd out of milk, it does the same. Actually, just adding curd should also help in curdling the milk, will let you know once i try that.
Step 2: Boil the milk; Once you see the milk starts to rise switch off the gas and immediately start adding the magic potion we made. Start by adding 1 big spoon, You will see that that milk will start to curdle. Keep adding this till you see clear water.
If you don't wait till you see clear water, You can still make Paneer but half the quantity.
I have tried to curdle milk using just Vinegar many times! This works perfectly fine too and does not leave any aftertaste. But why use a chemical when Lemon can do what we want.
Step 3: We have to separate the "channa" or the "Curds" from the Whey. We need to place a sieve over a bowl. It is important that we can place a glass bowl filled with water over the sieve (refer to the image below). This bowl with water will act as a weight that will push all the water down through the sieve. This process ensures that the paneer block is formed. If we do not do this, it will remain watery and we cannot cut cubes of it.
TIP: Leave this for at least 10 -12 minutes.
Step 4: After 10 minutes, turn this over into a plate and cut cubes! That is it Paneer is ready. I added it to yummy Palak gravy, (sorry no picture) we just ate it all up!
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Paneer Manufacturing Process