I’ve been experimenting with Indian cuisine and am holding a dinner party. I’d like to offer a vegetarian dish. I once had a paneer cheese curry that was delicious. Where do I get paneer from, and how do I keep it in cubes and stop it from melting into the curry?
Paneer is the most popular type of cheese in Indian cuisine. It’s made in a similar way to cottage cheese, in that it uses a process of curdling hot milk with lemon juice or vinegar. There’s an extra step if you’re making it at home: bundle it together, then press between two chopping boards and flatten to a one-inch disc. You then keep a steady pressure on the top board (perhaps using a few cans of food) for around an hour. You’ll have removed a great deal of liquid and should be left with a block of cheese to cut into cubes. Available in Asian supermarkets, paneer holds its form when heated, and is delicious with spinach for a palak paneer, or peas for a mutter paneer.
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