How To Make Paneer Cheese With Only 2 Ingredients.

This is a recipe which I probably use all too often, my deep love of all cheese is sure to be my undoing. If you're unfamiliar with paneer, it's an Indian cheese which is similar to a firm ricotta. It's commonly used as a vegetarian alternative and can be a substitute for tofu. It's very mild in flavour and very versatile.

It's becoming quite readily available at most supermarkets but I've yet to find paneer on the shelves that can come even remotely close to freshly made paneer. Store bought paneer is often pretty expensive around these parts ($5.90 for 200 grams) and far too dry. This recipe will yield a minimum of 300 grams of delicious paneer and the ingredients cost me a total of $3.60.

Making paneer does produce a lot of whey, don't pour it down the drain! I tend to use it to make naan bread, as well as putting it in the curry base (recipes to follow) and if there's still some whey left over I will cook my rice in it.

If you have buttermilk handy you can use that instead of lemons (you may need a bit more than half a cup) but I rarely have it on hand, whereas I always seem to have way too many lemons laying around. The only specialist ingredient you will need is cheesecloth, if you don't have cheesecloth then muslin can be used. Or, if in a pinch, a clean and unused Chux cloth should do the trick. If you can stir and pour, you can make this!

Easy 2 Ingredient Paneer Cheese

An original recipe by Lily (A Rhubarb Rhapsody)

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours
Yield: 300g to 400g

Ingredients

• 2 litres full cream milk
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)

Cooking Directions

1. Fold your cheesecloth in half so that it's double-layered and use it to layer your colander. Place your colander inside a large pot or bowl (like a double boiler). Set aside.

2. Pour the milk into another large heavy bottomed pot (I used a 4 quart pot).

3. Heat the milk over medium high heat, stirring often to ensure the milk doesn't burn on the bottom.

4. Bring to a rolling boil, add the lemon juice and keep stirring until the milk begins to simmer. Cook for a further minute or two.

5. Pour the milk mixture into the prepared colander. Let it drain for 10 minutes then wrap the sides of the cheesecloth over the paneer to completely cover it.

6. Now it's time to weigh down the cheese, use a plate or the base of a slightly smaller pot to start it off. You want it fit snugly on top of the cheese to create even pressure. on top of that I usually put a bowl and fill it with about 1kg of weight, this time i used a 1L bottle of olive oil.

7. Once you've finished building your kitchen weight tower let it sit for an hour and a half. When the cheese has firmed up you can cook with it immediately. You can also wrap it tightly in cling film and stick it in the fridge for up to 3 days or even freeze it. Enjoy!