I've seen the ingredient list of a brand of paneer with an ingredient list of: Milk, Citric Acid. Ok, so what is the process from there? I have a few specific questions:
- What kind of milk do you need?
- Can you use pasteurized & homogenized vitamin D milk (whole milk)?
- Where do you get citric acid? I've seen some suggestions to use crushed children's aspirin. Is there a better, easily accessible source?
- Are there regional variances in paneer? The paneer I am used to, and love, states that it's from the Rajasthan region of India.
- How do you actually make it?
Best Answer
This is a recipe that we used for the concierge lounge when I was a chef in the main kitchen of the Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa:
Paneer
5 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Bring the milk to a boil, add the lemon juice so that the milk separates into the curds and whey.
Add a bit more lemon juice if necessary. Let set for approx. 5 mins.
Line a strainer with a cheesecloth and strain the milk.
Reserve the whey to use in curries instead of water.
Squeeze the excess whey out of the curd and fold the cloth around
the paneer to form a 4-inch square. Place the paneer on a
plate and place a heavy weight on top to squeeze out excess whey.
Leave for about 4 hours to set.