Homemade Malai Paneer

How to make Malai Paneer at home

Who doesnt love paneer. Well my husband doesn't (Weird right?). I am sure he must be one of a minority! I remember my first time tasting paneer, it was at this restaurant when I was 6 and I remember being completely blown away by the flavor back then ( which kid doesn't love cheese). Being a big paneer fan I have it often as a side dish for chapati or even with dosa.

Buying paneer abroad is slightly expensive and its not often you can find fresh paneer every time you need it, which in my case is pretty often! Store bought paneer often has certain additives along with binders like flour.  Making it at home is not only cheaper, but a sure shot way to know that its healthy and has no added preservatives.  

I have lost count on my attempts to make paneer at home because there were just so many unsuccessful attempts. I just took the easier route buying it at the store (where thankfully I got it every time I wanted it!) Then I promised myself…one last time and that was it! Luckily it worked….and now I AM NEVER GOING BACK! All we need is some milk, some cream, something to curdle it and a cheese cloth to collect the cheese and an apparatus to set the paneer. I generally make a good huge batch and use it for a long time, hence the quantity. When making it at home, you can always size down the quantity of milk and ensure that you reduce whatever you use to curdle it.

Oh and did I mention? The toughest part of this recipe is the WAITING!!

Ingredients

Whole Milk   1 gallon

Heavy Cream  1.5 cups (30-45% fat content)

Vinegar   3/4 cup to 1 cup

Notes: You can always make paneer with 2% or even 1% milk. The result will definitely yield a lot less paneer , because the milk has been stripped of its fat content. 

Method

Take a wide bottomed nonstick (for easy cleaning) pan and bring the milk to a boil on medium heat. Once it comes to a boil keep stirring it for about 2 minutes. The cream will start floating towards the top.

    

Add the vinegar now. I have used vinegar but you can use lemon juice and buttermilk too. The quantity you add will vary given the quality of milk etc so I cant give the exact amount. 

Add the vinegar slowly little by little at a time. Give the milk a stir, you will see the curdling process start almost immediately. Keep going until you see the liquid separate completely from the fats. The liquid will seem green in color or pale white (since we are using heavy cream) which just means that the curdling process is complete. 

Switch off the heat now. Some people recommend switching it off earlier, in fact to even even add ice cubes to stop the cooking process to ensure the paneer is soft. However I like my paneer a little firm, to hold its shape so I stop the heat only after the separation has happened. Strain the cheese onto a cheese cloth. 

Initially I used to pour the entire liquid through a sieve and collect the cheese in the cheese cloth. I dont have a cheese cloth so used a clean handkerchief instead. Now there's too much liquid so I end up taking the cheese out with a slotted spoon to make the drying process easier.

Now comes the important part. To Set the paneer well, you need to wrap the cheese tightly (you can knot the cloth too, but mine was a small handkerchief) so i just folded it over the paneer to squeeze out the remaining water and place a heavy weight distributed uniformly to get a good shape. I used my mortar and pestle in addition to a vessel filled with water.

                                               

Wait for atleast 3 hours.It took me all my patience to not keep peeking in every few minutes so I left it undisturbed. After that it still dint seem firm enough so I set the apparatus in the fridge and checked it after a few hours. This is what it looked like.

                                       

Storing it is relatively simple. It can be dunked into any subji as is. If not, it stays fresh in the fridge for unto 4 days, provided its kept immersed in water. I generally don't use the paneer right away, also this is a pretty big batch. I cube it, shallow fry it and pack them in snack bags and throw them away in the freezer. They remain good, even for a few months although I doubt it would last that long. 

                 

Notes

1. Dunk frozen paneer in some hot water before you use it in any subji so that it would be soft
2. You can always flavor the paneer. People mostly complain that its bland does not have any taste of its own. Adding salt just after the milk is curdled is good, also you can add pepper, or fenugreek leaves(dried) to amp up the flavor.
3. Please do not discard the whey water. It is highly nutritious, it has a lot of protein content. You can always add it to soups, chapati dough(I always do it, it makes the softest chapatis) etc.
4. You can use a lot of things to curdle the milk like lemon juice, whey water left over from the previous batch of paneer or even beaten buttermilk. For me, vinegar has always worked the best so i tend to lean more towards it.
5. Heavy cream is optional, you can omit it. I feel that the end result is softer and richer (it is for malai paneer after all) but paneer made from milk works just as well. The yield is a lot higher when using heavy cream.
6. To get firm, spongy yet soft paneer ensure that you heat the milk really well, let it stay at that temperature for 5 minutes and then add the vinegar.