Monday, March 1, 2010

Paneer Round-Up!

We came, we curdled, we strained, we pressed and we conquered!
Conquered the cheese known as paneer that is.
This month three brave souls learned that there is nothing to fear in making this simple cheese at home, in fact - we might even do it again.

Andreas of Delta Kitchen joined us this month with his picture perfect paneer.
"This seemed to be a logical step to take the fun of bread making to the next level. The Cheese Challenge for February was to make Paneer from scratch, which was very easy and straightforward. I put the paneer into a soup plate to prevent flooding the fridge during the overnight rest, but the paneer just firmed up without rendering a drop of whey.
The finished paneer will hold it's shape through the fry and simmer to make a spicy kashmiri dish which goes well with some basmati rice."
Check out his cheesy adventure here.

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My friend Foodycat from across the pond knows a thing or two about Indian food
"I followed the recipe from Mirch Masala, reposted on Forging Fromage, but I also watched this fantastic YouTube tutorial from Show Me The Curry. It was all ridiculously straightforward, but from the ladies at Show Me The Curry I took the idea of suspending the curds in a jug, to let the weight of the curds themselves help drain them, and the jug catches the whey, Nifty, huh?"
"My paneer held together well as I coated the slices well in cornflour, and submitted patiently to being turned in the frying pan. Despite the slightly custardier texture when it was finished, it still had a bit of the chewiness and bite that commercial paneer has."
Check out Foodycat's cheesy adventures here.


And over at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, I made the Cumin Paneer and gave my paneer an extra day to firm up in the fridge.
"I am much too absent-minded to watch over a pot of milk. I use my slow cooker on high, lidded, with a probe thermometer in it - alarm set for 190f. It takes longer but you don't have to think about it."
"I let mine sit 2 days, and then pressed it even further between two cutting boards for a few moments, with me sitting on top!"
Check out my cheesy adventures here.

Natashya's Palak Paneer
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There you have it! Three adventurous souls and three delicious dishes. Tomorrow we'll be posting March's challenge and Heather should be back from vacation in a couple of weeks.
Thanks so much for joining us, in the kitchen or in spirit.
May all your dreams be cheesy ones.

8 comments:

Deb in Hawaii said...

Very impressive all of you--both with your paneer and the creative dishes you came up with! Great job!

Kim said...

You all had a great roundup of paneer! They all look terrific:D Glad to hear that Heather will be back.

Mimi said...

Nice round up! I wanted to join, but I live with a fermentophobe. It took years to get him to enjoy the sourdough without thinking it would kill him dead. He was terrified of my vinegar (and relieved when I finally killed the mother) and he refuses to even consider living in the same house as fermented dairy (although he has no problem trusting cheese or yogurt from the store). I'm still trying to figure out how to introduce homemade cheese or yogurt. Babysteps....

Alicia Foodycat said...

I read Mimi's comment to fast and was VERY surprised that her partner was relieved when she committed matricide! the mother not her mother - makes all the difference!

NKP said...

Ha! Yes, we certainly don't want to come across as being in favour of matricide! Too funny. :)

Anonymous said...

I've decided to jump right in and join you guys in making cheese. I'll start from the beginning, though. I have a question, though. 4 quarts of milk - how much paneer will I get from that amount?

NKP said...

Hi there, glad you are jumping in!
The recipes for the paneer state about a 10% yield.
Cheers,
Natashya

Anonymous said...

Here's my post about my take on Paneer: http://ap269.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/forging-fromage-1-paneer/. Very easy, very yummy!