Padhuskitchen


How to make Paneer at Home

by 78 Comments

Paneer is an Indian cheese prepared from milk. A variety of dishes can be prepared from paneer. It is a good source of protein. Though it is readily available in stores, home made paneer is very soft and spongy and is very simple to prepare. Since I will be posting many paneer dishes, I thought first I will share the process of making paneer at home for those who are not familiar with it or who have not tried it at home.

 

Home made Paneer Recipe

 

how to make paneer at home-step by step pics-How to make paneer

 

How to make Paneer at Home-Paneer Recipe


How to make Paneer

 Prep Time : 5 mins

 Cook Time : 10 mins
 Yields: 175 grams
 Recipe Category: Cooking Basics-Paneer
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
 Author:Padhu Sankar   Ingredients needed   Milk – 1 liter
   Fresh Lemon juice – 2 – 2 1/2 tbsp

Method

1. Bring milk to boil.
2. Once it boil, turn off the heat, wait for a minutes. Then add lemon juice to it while continuously stirring.
3. Milk will start curdling. (Pic 3)
4. Keep stirring until the curdling process is complete. (Pic 4)
5. Strain through a cheese cloth or thin cotton cloth. Rinse it with water or pour water to it to help wash away the lemon flavor. Wait for it to cool a little. (pic 5)
6. Gather the cloth with curd, squeeze out all water, tie a knot and hang it for 20-25 minutes to drain water, if any completely.
7. Keep a heavy object on top of it. I kept a pressure cooker filled with water. Leave it to set for 3 hours.
8. After 3 hours, take it out from the bundle, paneer will look as in pic 8.
9. Cut it into cubes and use it. You can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, if you are not going to use it immediately.

Note –

If paneer crumbles when you cut, then you have not drained/removed the whey properly.
I used milk with 4.5% fat. I got approximately 175 grams of paneer.
You may need a little more or a little less lemon juice than mentioned for the milk to curdle.

Shelf Life

It can be stored for 5 -6 days in the refrigerator.

Check out my collection of Paneer Recipes.

Meet you all again with more interesting recipes, till then it is bye from Padhu of Padhuskitchen.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Geetha Achal

    மிகவும் அழகாக step by step போட்டோ எடுத்து தெளிவாக விளக்கு இருக்கின்றிங்க…வாழ்த்துகள்…சூப்பர்ப்…

    Reply

  6. Lyndsey

    Thanks for this great tutorial, with the photos and all. I have always wanted to make my own paneer and can't wait for your recipes using it.

    What kind of milk is best? What is the lowest % of fat content can you use without it changing the texture or taste? Is is usually made with whole milk? Just wondering….thanks!

    Reply

  15. Vidhya

    I had also posted how to make paneer on 20th may 2010. But I had used stainless steal strainer to strain the whey. When all the whey drained off immediately transfered it into a flat plate, and kept a heavy weight on it. Your method is also very easy… thanks.

    Reply

  37. Share

    is that so simple ?…OR… you have made it look simple?…a casual look of the collage pictures illustrated everything….i am going to try at home my dear.

    Reply

  42. Life is beautiful!!!

    Padhu, I am wondering where r u? Why am I not getting updates from you? I will check it. Very nice to hear from you. You presented very beautifully the paneer making steps. Take care and have a wonderful weekend!!!

    Reply

  44. Jessica

    Padhu, thank you so much for sharing your recipes. You have made everything easy to follow and the pictures are mouth watering! I am just starting to cook Indian food and I really appreciate this blog. I made the paneer and it was a success! I did have to add a lot more lemon, however. The milk would not curdle! I used whole milk – I don't know if the percentage of fat was slightly different from the milk you use. I rinsed it through the cheesecloth, just to make sure it would not have any lemon left in it. Anyway, it was delicious. I used it in a saag paneer – my family loved it! Thank you again, I will be visiting regularly for more recipes! 🙂

    Reply

  45. Lavanya

    hai, herebefore i didn't know how to make paneer. But u explained very well through steps. I worked out this and really i got a delicious paneer. Thanks a lot. Great job. Keep moving on.

    Reply

  51. Lakshmi Dintakurthi

    Padhu, Thats a wonderful way of explaining how to make paneer with pictures. You made it so simple. One question I have is where I can get cheese cloth. In what way it is different from normal cloth. Pls explain.

    Reply

  63. sunitha sb

    Thanks padhu.. This was good. . But how did you get the dough like consistency? I fooled your steps exactly and though I did get it correct in the end there were still some crumbs on outer sides of the cloth. After hanging for 15 mins I loosened the knot and then kept the weight. Should I knead or gather the curd before this? How do you get that bal/dough like consistency?

    Reply

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