March's Au Lait Du Mois: Paneer (Panir)

 

I followed the directions exactly, heating two quarts of milk and the juice of two lemons until the temperature reached 165+ degrees. At about 120 degrees or so, it looked like what I thought was supposed to happen. I had big chunks of curd and the liquid was transparent. But, I was supposed to go hotter, so I kept stirring. At about 165 degrees, the curds got small and diffuse and the whey became cloudy again. But, I was too far in. So, I went ahead and poured it through the cheesecloth and drained it. I did end up getting a very firm cheese, but the whey was still cloudy. The cheese tasted good. Bob was willing to drink the whey, that I sweetened with a little sugar to make lemonade as suggested in the recipe book.

 

I used the panir to make butter panir masala. (It was a recipe I found on the web, but can no longer find.) Basically, you browned a red onion, pureed it with garlic, ginger and fresh chili. Then heated it with pureed tomatoes and turmeric, garam masala, coriander and chili powder and some water. Then stir in some yogurt and add the panir. It was tasty. I added some spinach and peas. The panir however disintegrated in the sauce.

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