Making Homemade (Mutter) Paneer (cheese curds) with an Indian Mother

To my surprise, making homemade paneer from whole milk and vinegar or lemon juice is a very straightforward and fairly simple process. I will provide the detailed directions below that I was taught by a native Indian for making both the paneer itself and a sauce that goes along to make mutter (peas) paneer or similar dishes. Paneer is an Indian style cheese, similar to raw cheese curds or cottage cheese without the wet part. It resembles tofu in appearance.

Making the Paneer

Ingredients: Gallon whole milk, 2 teaspoons vinegar or 3 tsps lemon juice, 2 tsp salt. Yields about 2 cups paneer

• Bring the milk to a boil
• When boiling, add 2 tsp vinegar and remove from heat
• Let rest / curdle (visible separation should occur within 2-3 minutes, if not, put it back on the burner)
• When it appears fully separated, strain through cheesecloth and press out excess moisture (be careful not to over squeeze, it will be very soft at this point)
• Press the paneer in the cloth between heavy objects for 3-4 hours to remove moisture
• When done pressing, cut the solid block into pieces
• Put them in boiling water with 1 tsp salt for about 10 minutes, turning off the heat after 5 minutes.
• Refrigerate over night and they are ready to go!

Making the Sauce or Making Mutter Paneer

Ingredients: 4 medium tomatoes yielding 2 cups grated, 2 tbs oil, 1 tsp cumin seed, 2 tbs grated fresh ginger, 2 tsp turmeric, 4 tsp coriander, 1 tsp garam masala, 2 bay leaves, 1 tbs yogurt /cream/ cashew paste, salt, 2 cups paneer, mutter/peas, extra tomato sauce as desired

• Use a grater on the tomatoes to separate the pulp from the skins, should yield about 2 cups
• Peel and grate the fresh ginger, yield about 2 tbs
• Heat the oil in a deep pot
• When hot, add the cumin seeds. They should pop if it’s hot enough.
• Add other spices and tomatoes. Mind the splatter.
• Bring all to a boil and simmer 5 minutes before adding precooked peas, paneer and yogurt
• Simmer together another 5 minutes
• If not enough sauce add extra milk and 4 oz tomato sauce
• When the oil starts to separate, it’s done. Remove bay leaves before serving with rice or roti

Book Review | Wisconsin Supper Club Cookbook by Mary Bergin

In Wisconsin Supper Club Cookbook, author Mary Bergin takes readers on a tour around approximately 40 local supper clubs. She addresses the question of what a supper club is and serves up historical facts in a very palatable manner, incorporating them within chapters on each restaurant. Added fact boxes at the end of select chapters serve to highlight other related notables. Bergin includes several recipes for most of the included establishments, spanning the whole meal from drinks and appetizers to main courses, sides and desserts. You won’t find many healthy or vegan recipes here though. These foods are more about tradition and include some heavy ingredients, but perhaps some at home tweaking will yield a family favorite. Although some great photos are included, an absence of captions make some images hard to decipher. The photo quality leaves many images visually less than appealing and many appear to be amateur shots. In the introduction the author mentions there being over a hundred supper clubs in Wisconsin, but only about 40 are included. A full list would have made for a treat of an appendix. Overall, the book was enjoyable and is recommended to Wisconsinites interested in local tradition and history or out-of-towners wanting to learn about supper club culture. Check out this book from a library near you.