The only difference between Paneer & Cottage Cheese is that while Paneer is unsalted, Cottage Cheese is salted and may sometimes have heavy cream in it. The steps involved in making these cheeses are the same.
PrintHow to make Cottage Cheese or Paneer
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 200 grams 1x
Description
Learn to make fresh, homemade Paneer or Cottage Cheese with simple ingredients and steps. Perfect for adding to your favorite dishes.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 liter whole or 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
- Thin kitchen cloth
- Salt, to taste (optional, for Cottage Cheese)
- Heavy cream (optional, for Cottage Cheese)
Instructions
- Pour 1 liter of whole or 2% milk into a large pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the milk starts boiling, add 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice and continue stirring. You will notice the milk curdling as the acid separates the curds from the whey.
- When the curds have completely separated from the whey, turn off the heat. This should take about 2-3 minutes after adding the acid.
- Place a thin kitchen cloth over a colander and carefully pour the curdled milk into it to strain out the whey. Be cautious as the mixture will be hot.
- Gather the edges of the cloth and tie it into a bundle. Hang it over a sink or bowl to drain for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how firm you want the cheese.
- For Cottage Cheese, add salt to taste and mix in heavy cream if desired for a creamier texture.
- Once drained, your Paneer or Cottage Cheese is ready to use. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
For a firmer Paneer, press the cheese under a heavy object after draining. If you prefer a creamier Cottage Cheese, mix in heavy cream after draining. Store the cheese in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can use lemon juice or vinegar as the acid; both work well to curdle the milk.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Basics
- Cuisine: Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 50 grams
- Calories: 206
- Sugar: 9
- Sodium: 50
- Fat: 12
- Carbohydrates: 9
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 14
- Cholesterol: 44
My cottage cheese has some orange in it. Is this normal?
Thank you for sharing the procedure from Panir. It was quite easy to made! I hope it tast good as well!!
You generally do not want panir to be hard. You only add lemon or vinegar until you see curds forming, or it will be too hard.
Making panir is not a “recipe”. It is a “procedure”. Bring whole milk to a boil. Meanwhile, mix acid (lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar) with water: about 3 parts water to 1 acid. Watering it helps control the amount of acid. You want as little as possible. Prepare about 2 T acid plus water per quart of milk.
When milk is boiling, pull it off the heat or it will overflow. While stirring, slowly add acid until you see curds. Let cool enough to handle. Pour in cheesecloth, tie the top, and hang for several hours. You can use a wooden spoon to squeeze out more whey.
You want panir to be solid, and not melt, but not be hard. You have to age it in refeigerator for 3 days before using it. I see lots of recipes where they forget to tell you this essential step. I think they are just copying recipies that they never used. If you try using it too soon, it just melts and smashes
up, something like ricotta. I once tried to make matar panir too soon. It was a disaster. You must wait 3 days. Period. Absolutely.
You can use fresh panir if you want it to be stirred into other ingredients, like some burfi recipes.
I add the whey from a gallon of panir to a jar
of mango preserves, plus the pulp of one
mango. This makes a fabulous, protein-rich
mango lassi.
Dara…I didn’t realize that you knew so much about cheese, I would like to talk to you about mango lassi.
Dara, please note that Whey from the paneer making process (similar to ricotta cheese making process) does not contain any protein, since that is what the paneer is mostly made of (coagulated protein).
However, when making cottage cheese using rennet enzyme, the remaining whey is full of protein, & that whey is often used to make ricotta cheese (which then removes all the protein that was in the whey)
Hey Kavitha,
Thanks for sharing the Paneer recipe. How do we make cubes of hard paneer as used in restaurant entrees. Also, can I mix green chillies at this stage to make spicy
Paneer?
Thanks,
Krishna.
Hi! :D
Great and easy recipe. I’m just wondering can you use skim milk? I’m lactose intolerant, and I can only drink Skim Milk at most..
You sure can! the only thing is you don’t get as much cheese as you would with Whole or Reduced fat milk! It does not have the exact taste of cottage cheese because there is no salt or cream added! But it’s healthier!
Hi Kimchi! Of course you can use Skim Milk! :) If you’re lactose intolerant, you can even use Soy Milk to make tofu! :)
You have only give n a process of Paneer making . That we are doing daily
We like to know How to make cottage cheese. Next recipee/process is missing Dear Kavitha
Please complete it.