Paneer is a nutritious entry to Indian cuisine
Although India is not a country known for its cheese, there is one cheese that is entrenched in the Indian cuisine — paneer!
If you have eaten at an Indian restaurant, you may have discovered it hidden underneath spinach in dish called palak paneer or luxuriously bathing in a rich creamy tomato sauce in the famous shahi paneer entree or discreetly disguised as a sweet note at the end of the meal in milky rusmallai!
In recipes, paneer is referred to as tofu, cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Though it has attributes of all three, it certainly is in a class of its own! Yes, it is kind of a cheese but it has many characteristics that set it apart from other cheeses.
Paneer is traditionally made with cow’s milk and is acid set, which means that the cheese is curdled and set with the assistance of an acid such as lemon or lime juice or vinegar, rather than rennet and bacteria, as is the case with most cheeses. Paneer is also considered to be a fresh cheese and doesn’t get better with age. In fact, fresh is the best. Finally, paneer is a non-melting kind of a cheese, allowing you to sauté grill or crumble it into just about anything.
Because of its growing popularity, it is now readily available in many grocery stores in the fresh form in the deli section (Save-on Foods) or frozen in the Asian freezer aisle (Super Store). That being said, the best textured paneer, without a doubt, is the one that is home made. Making your own cheese may seem daunting, but when it comes to paneer, if you can boil milk then you are on the path to being an expert paneer maker.
Process of paneer making begins with bringing milk to a rolling boil and then adding a citrus juice. Instantly, right before your eyes, the milk will begin to curdle into curds and whey. At this point you will see small curds like white clouds floating on top of lime green water. The mixture is then poured into a clean cheesecloth-lined sieve. The curds are gathered while the whey could be saved as a healthy addition for boiling rice, kneading into dough to make roti or naan.
The curds are kept in the cloth, tied in a very tight ball and hung to let the whey drip. To assist in the whey removal, the cloth is twisted several times squeezing out any remaining whey. If the recipe requires a crumbly cheese, then the paneer can be used after an hour of hanging. If the recipe calls for firm cheese then a moulding or a firming step is needed.
For this you take the ball of cheese still wrapped in the cheese cloth and place under a heavy weight. Most “professional” paneer makers still use the time honoured method: put cheese ball between two boards and place a heavy pot filled with water on top! After 2-3 hours the paneer is ready to be cut into cubes. Pressing for a shorter time (approximately 20 minutes) results in a softer, fluffier cheese. Once made the cheese is then stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours for further solidification.
Even though traditionally no other flavours are incorporated into the actual cheese it doesn’t mean you can’t. Have fun and experiment by throwing some spice or aromatics into the milk while it’s coming to a boil. Lemongrass, ginger, whole curry spices, are just few interesting flavours that can be infused. Another way to add your own distinguishing essence is while the paneer is still soft and crumbly, kneed in salt, pepper, herbs or even chilli pepper for an extra spicy kick. Then press the cheese as mentioned above.
So what do you do once you have perfect crumbles or cubes of paneer? In the Indian kitchen, paneer is the main ingredient in a variety of appetizers, curries and desserts. Paneer itself has a rather bland flavour but it can act as a flavour carrier.
Therefore it is excellent marinated or used in a curry or sauce. The mild flavour of the paneer also lends itself to use in sweets where the flavour of sweetened paneer compliments other flavours such as pineapple or coconut.
To get you started I am including two of my favourite paneer recipes.
Paneer
4 litres homogenized milk
6 tablespoons lime or lemon juice or vinegar
Boil the milk. Once milk comes to a rapid boil, add vinegar. Once the curd has separated from the whey pour into a sieve lined with a cheesecloth . Gather sides of cheesecloth together and wring it to get rid of the excess whey. After half hour, kneed the cheese to homogenize the curds. Wrap in cheesecloth tight and let drain. For firmer cheese, place some weight on the paneer covered in cheesecloth for another 2 hours.
Paneer Bread rolls
Makes 8 rolls
1 cup crumbled paneer
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Cilantro, chopped fine
1 tsp ketchup
4 slices of bread
Butter, melted
Salt to taste
To the crumbled paneer, add the red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, chopped cilantro, chopped onion, and cumin. Then mix in ketchup and the ginger garlic paste. Set aside while you prep the bread. Remove the crusts from your bread. Use the regular white commercial variety. Roll out each slice as thin as you can. Place about 1 tsp or so of filling on one end of the rolled out bread slice. Gently roll in from one end, making sure that the filling stays well within the first turn of the roll. Repeat with the remaining bread slices. Set aside for about 15 minutes. Brush the rolls with melted butter. Lightly brown in a frying pan until all sides are browned. Serve with your favourite chutney.
Palak (spinach) paneer
350 g spinach
1 green chillies, finely chopped
4 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
200 grams firm paneer, cubed
5 tablespoons half and half
Blanch spinach in boiling water for two minutes. Squeeze out excess water. In a blender, grind spinach into a fine paste along with green chillies. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and onions. Sauté until onion are brown. Add tomatoes, cook until tomatoes from a paste. Add salt,cumin, coriander and garam masala powder. Cook to infuse all the spices together. About 3 minutes. Add the spinach puree and stir. Check seasoning. Add water if required. When the gravy comes to a boil, add the paneer and mix well. Finally mix in half and half. Serve hot with naan bread.
Madhu Badoni is a Red Deer-based freelance food writer. She can be reached at madhubadoni@gmail.com. Watch for Madhu’s Masala-Mix blog on www.reddeeradvocate.com
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.