Somehow lately we started to eat less and less meat. Every time I am standing in a shop and holding package of some meat I can´t stop wondering where it really came from and what it had been through so I just give it back and decide to cook something vegetarian, like lentils - Indian dhaals or some Asian food with tofu instead of meat. But I am not such a tofu fan, so I decided to try to make Indian cheese paneer at home from cow´s milk . It couldn´t be that complicated. My husband´s family is from North India and they are vegetarian mostly, so they eat lots of paneer. So I did it and it came our great. My husband was little worried, that it would be hard but my paneer nicely soften in his massala curry sauce and it went along with the taste to a different level. I loved it. His family is not making paneer at home anymore, they are buying it, so he was little underestimating my skills :-) Paneer will not cook apart, just like tofu, but it will be soft and creamy.
Recept:
3 l plnotučného kravského mlieka
1,5 dcl vody
1 čajovú lyžičku kyseliny citrónovej
soľ podľa chuti, ale nemusí byť
gázu na syr, cedník a väčšiu misu
Recipe:
3 l of full fat cow´s milk
150 ml tap water
1 tea spoon citric acid
salt as per taste, you don´t have to use salt at all , your choice
cheese cloth, sieve and bigger bowl
Mlieko zahrejeme aspoň na 85 stupňov Celzia
Lets heat milk to at least 85 degrees Celsius
Po zahriatí mlieka nelejeme vodu s rozpustenou kyselinou citrónovou, pomaly zamiešame a vypneme šporák.
After heating milk we add water in which we mixed citric acid and slowly stir in milk and turn off the heat.
Syr sa začne skoro hneď oddeľovať od srvátky, necháme zo 20 minút stáť.
Cheese is starting to form apart from whey almost immediately, let it sit for 20 minutes.
Precedíme cez gázu.
Sieve it through cheese cloth.
Zavesíme a necháme samé odtiecť, nestláčame syr, aby nebol tvrdý, gravitácia urobí svoje. Cca 30 minút.
Hang it and let the liquid drain itself, do not squeeze it, so it doesn´t become hard. For 30 minutes at least.
Syr preložíme na čistú bavlnenú utierku a zabalíme do tvaru obdĺžnika.
Place cheese on clean cotton towel and form it into square.
Bavlnená utierka by nemala mať záhyby aby bol obdĺžnik syru pekný a bez zárezov, bude sa lepšie krájať. Prebytočnú srvátku vsiakne utierka, položíme do nádoby.
Cotton towel will soak the remaining whey , try to fold it nicely with no creases, so your cheese will have no wrinkles and it will be easy to cut later on.
Syr som zaťažila a na noc vložila do chladničky. Stačilo by aj na 3 hodiny, nemusí byť cez noc, ale my sme varili až na druhý deň. Panner vydrží v chladničke zo 3- 4 dni, maximálne 1 týždeň.
I place it into the fridge overnight and place weight on top of it, since we use it for cooking the next day. Pressing would be enough for 3 hours. Panner is good to use within 3 - 4 days , maximum it will last 1 week in your fridge.
Nakrájaný paneer tesne pre varením :-)
Paneer cut to cubes just before cooking :-)
Paneer massala curry.
