Meat Free Everyday - Food for Thought

Cooking with paneer

Paneer is a dairy protein. It's not easily found in Western food stores, but is widely used in Indian food and curries. I love curries and lucky for me there are always lots of vegetarian curries to try. Paneer is heavenly in a curry!

Paneer is definitely a low carb food. The protein yeild is around 40% with only 1% carbs. The fat content is on the high side at 25%. Still it's a firm, somewhat creamy tasting food with a mild cheese flavour.

It's not too difficult to make. I found instructions on You Tube. In essence, you bring a pot of milk to just below the boil. Add lemon juice until it curdles. Drain into a colander with a piece of muslin lining the colander. Allow the liquid to drain and squeeze the paneer in the muslin to get as much liquid out as possible. Let the paneer stand in your muslin cloth, over the colander, for 24 hours so the last of the water drains and the paneer firms up. I use a rock on top to put a bit of pressure on the paneer and drain as much water as possible.

What to do with it? It looks similar to tofu and you could easily use all the Cooking with Tofu ideas with paneer. I like it as a meat substitute in a curry because that's how I came to taste it. I also slice it and bake it layered with vegetables such as aubergines and a strong cooking cheese such as parmesan or gruyere. It also makes nice rissoles or burgers as it holds it's shape well and when cooked becomes firm.

I have seen dessert recipes for paneer but I prefer to use ricotta cheese in desserts. Paneer is nice to have every now and again. What stops me haing it more often is having to make it myself.

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