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READY IN ABOUT 2½ hrs

Paneer (Home Made)

Read Reviews (18)

"Paneer is an essential ingrediant in Indian cooking. Often people substitue riccotta or some other kind of cheese. But they never taste the same and paneer is so easy to make. With this simple recipe, you'll give true Indian authenticity to all your dishes." — DOSTANDEN

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Original recipe makes 4 servings Change Servings

4 cups milk
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

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Directions

Combine the milk, yogurt, salt and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a whisk. As the milk is just about to boil (it will bubble at the edges), stir in the lemon juice.
Remove from the heat and pour into a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Lift the cheesecloth by the four corners and tie them together. Hang the cheese in the cloth over the sink to drain. It will take 30 minutes to 1 hour. Once drained, place the cheese, still in the cloth, into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
If later you want to cut the paneer into firm fingers, use a spoon to press the paneer into the shape of the bowl before refrigerating.

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PREP 2 hrs
COOK 20 mins
READY IN 2 hrs 20 mins

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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Mar 25, 2006

Being an indian, we use regular milk in making paneer. I am assuming that Dostanden ment to put that in the recipe. Usually the higher the fat content in milk, the better and more paneer you will get.

—lilapeels

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Jun 17, 2007

I have no idea what I am doing wrong, but I tried this recipe twice and I didn't get any cheese. It wouldn't curdle at all. I used whole milk. Anyone have any ideas on what I am missing?

—DaraFG

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24 Ratings

Jan 06, 2008

Okay, here's how it worked for me. I made the recipe as it is written using whole milk and got some curds (about 3/4 cup) with remaining liquid that looked like 2% milk, not whey. It seemed like I could get more out of it, so I cooled the mixture down to room temperature, then heated it to boiling again and added a tablespoon of white vinegar as suggested by another reviewer. It curdled beautifully leaving a clear whey and more solids than the first attempt. My advice is to go straight for the vinegar as the acidity of lemons may vary from one to the next. The paneer tastes excellent with a nice firmness that held its shape when cut.

—sweet-tooth

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Oct 23, 2007

Paneer is quite easy to make. Definitely requires whole milk. One thing this recipe doesn't mention is that the milk has to curdle. This occurs once you put in the lemon juice. I have seen it not curdle, perhaps due to less acidic lemons. Lemon can be substituted with white vinegar, especially if your lemons won't cause it to curdle. Toss some fresh cracked peppercorns into the curdled milk in the cheese cloth and stir before hanging for peppercorn paneer.

—KEMTON

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Mar 04, 2006

the taste was fantastic, but i did not know how much the recipe was supposed to make - i used fat free milk and did not get much out of it (8 servings = apx 6oz of cheese) but i suspect if i use full fat milk, it is going to get a lot more cheese...but the taste is WONDERFUL

—jenkaybird

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Mar 18, 2010

This is a great recipe, and so easy to make. Those of you who couldn't get your milk to curdle, it's possible that you didn't get your milk hot enough. I only got a tiny bit of cheese the first time through, then I put the milk back in the pan and reheated it. I didn't add anything extra, I just stirred until I saw the first bubble of a boil. I poured it through the sieve again, and it worked beautifully!

—BEDTIMEBEAR

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Jan 16, 2008

Finally! A paneer recipe that worked! I made this yesterday and am using it tonight in Rosy's Palak Paneer. I did read the posts about full-fat milk working better. Since all I had was 2 percent, I substituted a half pint light cream for 1 cup of the milk. Also, the yogurt I used was Stoneyfield Organic full fat with cream on top. So I added a little of the cream from on top of the yogurt ;-) This did require more than one Tb of lemon juice in order to curdle, but it all comes down to how acidic the lemon is, I guess. The cheese is DELICIOUS (been nibbling at the curds that stuck to the cheesecloth... LOL) and firm enough to cook. Thank you SO MUCH for posting this recipe!

—StirringThePot

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Jan 21, 2011

Great recipe. I used vinegar instead of lemon juice. I doubled it and got over 300g (about 3/4 of a lb) of cheese from 2L of whole milk. I pressed my paneer under a heavy pan and some cookbooks. I experimented with the paneer when cooking it. I'd seen other recipes that said to fry it before adding it to curries, so I fried half before adding it to my curry and added the other half as is. The frying definitely gave it a chewier texture and helped it keep it's shape better. The cheese was equally tasty both ways. I've also read that the whey can be used in soups and also for making bread, roti or chapatti. Will definitely be making this again. Where I live, paneer isn't available, so I'm very happy to have found this recipe. Thanks for sharing!

—RoseRover

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Nutrition

Calories
129 kcal
6%

Carbohydrates
13.1 g
4%

Cholesterol
20 mg
7%

Fat
4.9 g
7%

Fiber
0 g
< 1%

Protein
8.3 g
17%

Sodium
684 mg
27%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Paneer (Home Made)

Serving Size: 1/4 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 129
Calories from Fat: 44

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4.9g 7 %
Saturated Fat 3.1g 16 %
Cholesterol 20mg 7 %
Sodium 684mg 27 %
Potassium 380mg 11 %
Total Carbohydrates 13.1g 4 %
Dietary Fiber 0g < 1 %
Protein 8.3g 17 %
Sugars 12.8g
Vitamin A 9 %
Vitamin C 4 %
Calcium 37 %
Iron < 1 %
Thiamin 10 %
Niacin 14 %
Vitamin B6 6 %
Magnesium 10 %
Folate 7 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.