Paneer

People get daunted by the thought of making paneer, but believe me it is one of the easiest things to make. Since the day I learnt to make paneer, I've totally stopped buying it. The advantages of making your own paneer at home is it is fresh. Fresh paneer tastes so much better than store bought paneer. I think the major advantages are the quantity and cost. Generally, packaged paneer comes in 200gm packets, which turns out to be too much for me for one time. And some brands charge you insane rates for that much paneer. Below is an easy recipe to make paneer at home.

Ingredients:

Milk - 1/2 litre
Lime juice or Curd - 1 tbsp

Method:

Boil the milk
Lower the heat to sim
Add lime juice/curd
Allow the milk to curdle
Continue heating in sim mode until the whey (watery part of milk) and the solid curd is separated
Once this is done, allow it to cool for 5 mins
Do not allow it to completely cool down and reach room temperature
When it is still hot, drain out the whey using a muslin cloth
Tie the cloth up and place a weight on it. (I place the cloth on an upturned vessel and place a plate underneath so that the remaining whey is collected in
it. I also place a plate on top of the cloth and keeps books on it as a weight :))
After 15-20 mins, remove the weight and untie the cloth.
Paneer is ready.