MAKE YOUR OWN CHEESE WITH 2 LITRES OF WHOLE MILK AND 2 TBSP OF LEMON JUICE

We came across this article on making your own cheese at home. We thought it is a bit dubious and sounded like a skillful professional saying it is chicken feet. It is indeed easy after we read it. Imagine making your own cheese in your own kitchen! This is a recipe for paneer, a type of farmer's cheese common in Indian cooking.

There are two ingredients to paneer, the milk and an acid.Try 2 litres of whole (full fat) milk. For the acid, you can use lemon juice (2TB), yogurt (2/3 cup ), or vinegar (1TB). Some people add a little more acid to make the milk curdle.

Begin by heating the milk over medium heat until frothy and nearly boiling. Stir in the acid which will cause the milk to curdle. It should take about 1 minute to occur. If it still hasn’t clearly separated, add small increments of your acid until the curdling occurs. I added nearly 1 tablespoon of vinegar before the milk fully curdled. The milk fats will fully separate from the water (whey) and you’ll have something like the above.

Wrapping the curds in a cheesecloth and hanging from your faucet for 10 minutes to allow it to drain. Before hanging, I urged it along by tightly turning the cheesecloth to wring out as much water as you could.

After 10 minutes, give the ball of cheese another good twist then place the cheesecloth covered ball into the bottom of a colander. Cover with a plate and an added weight. I used a cast-iron pot on top of the plate. The weight will act as a press to remove additional moisture. Allow the cheese to be pressed for about 40 minutes. At this point, the cheese will be firm enough to slice and will retain its shape.

The curds were poured into the cheesecloth to drain and rinsed them with cold water as noted above. A  tablespoon of finely chopped fresh cilantro was stirred in as an experiment. It seemed to have worked.

It is widely used in Indian stewed dishes since the cheese does not melt. In this way, it can be used similarly to tofu. You can also use the cheese as an appetizer or snack. Simply drizzle with olive oil, cracked pepper, sea salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. The cheese is tender and somewhat bland on its own. The cilantro added just a hint of freshness and the added spices perked it up. It makes for a wonderful treat.