By Emily King

These days, you can buy almost any cheese under the Sun in your local supermarket, but where’s the fun in that?

Making your own cheese may be more time-consuming than throwing a hunk of it into your grocery basket, but it’s something I believe every cook should experience at least once.

There’s nothing quite like the taste and mouth-feel of freshly made cheese, and you have the opportunity to season it to your liking.

Here is a simple recipe for Paneer (Indian-style farmer cheese). Get creative with spices, flavorings, and serving methods. Also, click here to check out a great video on cheese making. The recipe in the video is slightly different from the one listed below, but it’s a great instructional piece.

Ingredients:

½ gallon whole milk

¼ cup lemon juice

Your choice of spices, dried fruits, nuts, and flavorings

Salt to taste

1.) Set your burner on low, and bring milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Make sure that you stir the pot occasionally to keep the milk from developing a skin or scalding.

2.) When the milk reaches a boil, add the lemon juice and stir briefly. The milk should begin to curdle and form solids. If the whey (remaining liquid) is very cloudy, add a bit more lemon juice and stir again.

3.) Turn off the heat under the pot. Line a colander with fine cheesecloth or clean, cotton cloth and pour the contents of the pot into the colander to separate the curds from the whey.

4.) Gently press the curds in the cloth together, and tie the ends of the cloth to form a bundle. Tie the bundle to a wooden spoon or spatula, and suspend the bundle inside of a pitcher to allow gravity and the tension of the cloth to squeeze out excess moisture from the curds. Let it hang for about 30 minutes.

5.) Open the cloth and add any spices or flavorings you’d like. I’d strongly suggest adding salt to bring out the flavor of the cheese. Start with ¾ teaspoon and adjust from there. Other great additions are curry powder, nuts, dried fruits, and herbs. Briefly knead the ingredients into the cheese, and reform it into a ball.

6.) For firmer cheese that you can cut into cubes, place the reformed ball (wrapped in cheese cloth) on a flat surface, and place a weight on top of it (like a pot or pan) for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator to remove residual moisture.

7.)When the cheese is firm, cut it into cubes and pan-fry it. It’s a great addition to curries and vegetable sautés.