The whey to make curds

29 January 2015 - 02:12 By Andrea Burgener
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Andrea Burgener
Andrea Burgener
Image: Supplied

I've been a keen paneer cheese maker for years. This simple Indian curd cheese is usually to be found swimming in a curry or charred on a skewer fresh from the tandoori oven.

Paneer Perfect

If you want to use it in home cooking, you can buy it (frozen) at a handful of Indian delis, but it's not particularly good. Freezing does it no great favours, and pretty indifferent milk is almost always used. Even the restaurant versions are often so-so.

I only fully registered the enormous difference the particular milk makes (du-uh) when I started making paneer from raw jersey milk.

My previous cheeses, made from posh-supermarket Ayrshire or organic milk, had seemed pleasant enough before, but were suddenly exposed as mediocre.

Paneer made with the best milk - and I am certain that no milk can top raw Jersey milk, in either cheese-making or nutritional value - is in a different league: bouncy and velvety, with enormous fat stretchy curds and a far richer flavour.

If you can't find raw and Jersey together, either aspect will be an improvement on most supermarket milk. Seek it out at so-called farmer's markets or at health shops.

You can get Mooberry's perfect Jersey milk from Braeside Butchery in Parkhurst. 011-788-3613; 23 4th Avenue.

How to make cheese for four

Heat 10 cups milk until just boiling (full cream only; skim doesn't work and you should never be part of the shady skim-milk underworld). Whip off the heat and pour in 6 tablespoons of lemon juice (or slightly less white-grape or rice vinegar). Stir until curds and whey separate. The whey should be almost clear. If not, add another spoon of acid. Strain into a clean kitchen cloth hung over a sieve in a large bowl. Pour the lot into the cloth and let the whey drain into the bowl. Twist cloth tightly around the cheese, then leave in the sieve for about 30 minutes. Some use a weight to press out the whey, but I prefer a softer cheese so I leave it unweighted. When the paneer is completely cool, undress it and cut into bite-sized cubes. Use within the next two days (or freeze and lower your expectations on using it).

Whey

Little Miss Muffet was not lactose intolerant, it seems, and she was not on the Banting diet, and if you, too, have no issues with milk sugar then keep the whey you've drained from the curd cheese.

Use it to thin curries or other sauces where liquid is called for - it adds a lot more flavour than water. You can also store the paneer in the whey for a few days, which keeps it moist.

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