Hello girls! Today I am going to share the very easy process of making cottage cheese or paneer at home. Homemade things are not only healthy, they are hygienic and fresh too. Cottage cheese or paneer is a very important ingredient in vegetarian dishes and does wonder to enhance the taste of any vegetarian dish! So let’s see how we can make our homemade cottage cheese with just 3 ingredients!
Things you will need:
- Milk (with fat) – 4 cups
- Fresh lemon juice – 3-4 tbsp
- Heavy cream – 1 cup (optional)
Process:
- Place a heavy bottom pot on the stove and keep the flame at medium to moderate.
- Add 4 cups of fat milk into the pot and keep stirring.
- You can add fresh cream to it to add more creaminess but I have skipped it to avoid extra calories.
- When the milk comes close to the boiling point, turn the flame at its lowest and add lemon juice to it.
- Don’t pour in the entire lemon juice, just add in one portion of the lemon juice at a time and keep stirring.
- Slowly add inthe rest of the lemon juice to it and keep stirring.
- Repeat the process until a yellowish color of water starts to separate on the top layer of the milk.
- The milk should begin to curdle immediately, as soon the milk completely curdles, remove from the heat.
- Take a colander and strain the curds with the help of a cheese cloth. Gather the cheesecloth in your hand and gently squeeze to remove the excess whey.
- Strain the water properly and paneer should be free from water content
- Take a plate and place the cheese cloth containing the cottage cheese on it.
- Wrap the cloth tightly and set a second plate on top of the cheese cloth and keep a heavy weight on top.
- This way, you paneer will be more creamy and free of holes.
- Keep it for 2-3 hours, then unwrap the cloth and cut the cottage cheese into pieces.
- Your paneer is now ready to use. You can use it immediately or refrigerate for up to two days.