[Sca-cooks] Paneer, was making cheese at events/period cooking thermometers

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I wrote:
>No, Bear. Amra is right. Paneer (sp. correct) is a type of Indian
>fresh white cheese that is used in several dishes, often with
>either spinach (Saag Paneer) or with peas (Mattar Paneer).
>
>Anahita

And Bear asked:
>Never come across it.  Got the recipes to post?

I don't know whether or not it's "period", but this recipe in Madhur
Jaffrey's "World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking" (1981 and still in
print) is a lot like the basic cheese recipe...

I'm also including her recipes for Matar Paneer and Saag Paneer.
These modern recipes include OOP ingredients, but i suppose they
could have been made "in period" without the tomatoes and chilis...

p. 238-9
----- begin quoted recipe -----

Paneer (Fresh Cheese)
India

5 cups whole milk
2-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Bring the milk to a boil. As soon as it begins to bubble, put in the
lemon juice, stir once, and take the pot off the heat. Leave it for
15 minutes. The milk will curdle and the curds will separate from the
whey.

Strain the curds through 3 layers of cheesecloth. Squeeze out as much
whey as you can easily. (Do not discard the whey. Refrigerate it and
use it in cooking instead of water.) Tie up the curds in the
cheesecloth, using twine to make a small, round bundle. Use
sufficient twine, as you now need to hang up this bundle somewhere to
drip overnight. (I just hang it on the faucet in the sink.)

Next morning, remove the hanging bundle and untie it. Gently flatten
it out to make a 4-inch patty, keeping the cheese loosely wrapped in
the cheesecloth. Put the cheesecloth-wrapped cheese patty on a sturdy
plate and place a very heavy object (5 to 6 pounds) on top of it. I
use one of my very heavy, porcelain-covered cast-iron pots filled
with water. If the pot seems in danger of tipping over to one side, I
balance it by standing appropriately sized jars under its two
handles. Leave the weight on the cheese for 4 to 5 hours. After the
cheese has been pressed, it should be 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.

Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and with a sharp knife, cut it
into cubes, diamond shapes, or rectangles. If your cheese has pressed
down to 1/2 inch, diamonds or rectangle no longer than an inch are
best. If the cheese is about 3/4-inch thick, it can be cubed.

NOTE: Some people like to add a little freshly ground pepper and some
finely minced Chinese parsley - 1 tablespoon - to the curds just
after the whey has been strained, before it is tied and hung up.

[Anahita's note: "Chinese parsley" is cilantro / coriander greens]

Paneer, once made, is quite crumbly and breakable. Because of this,
it is generally fried and lightly browned before it is cooked. It is
a good idea to do this frying in a well-seasoned cast-iron or
teflon-lined skillet, as the cheese tends to stick a bit. There are
some dishes in which the cheese is not fried at all.

Rather like bean curd, fresh paneer has very little taste of its own.
It does have texture - and lots of protein. The taste comes from the
flavors of the foods with which it is cooked. In a very traditional
dish from the Punjab, paneer is combined with peas and tomatoes. It
is frequently cooked with pureed spinach. It can also be crumbled and
added to various grated vegetable (like squash and zucchini) to form
"meatballs." It can be crumbled, layered with partially cooked rice,
and baked.

----- end quoted recipe -----

p. 239
----- begin quoted recipe -----

Matar Paneer (Peas with Paneer)
India
(serves 6)

This Punjabi dish,with some variation in the spices, is eaten over
all of North India. Indian restaurants, whether in India or outside
it, almost always serve it on the thali, or vegetarian platter. (As
an interesting variation, ou could substitute a diced 6-ounce cake of
regular bean curd for the paneer)

[Anahita's Note: Ingredients in [square brackets] are from a
different cookbook.]

1 medium-sized onion, peeled and chopped
[3 cloves garlic, peeled]
About a 1-inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons vegetable oil [or ghee, clarified butter]
Paneer, plus 2 cups of whey
1 whole dried hot red pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
[1 tsp cumin]
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon salt
[1 tsp garam masala]
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups shelled fresh or 2 packages defrosted frozen peas
[2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro/coriander greens]

Put the chopped onion [, garlic,] and ginger into the container of an
electric blender or food processor along with 1/3 cup water and blend
until you have a smooth paste. Leave paste in blender container.

Heat the oil in a heavy, 10-inch-wide pot (preferably teflon-lined)
over a medium flame. When hot, pout the pieces of paneer in a single
layer and fry them until they are a golden brown on all sides. This
happens pretty fast. With a slotted spoon remove fried paneer to a
plate. Put the dried red pepper into the same oil. Within 2 seconds,
turn the pepper over so that it browns on both sides. Now put in the
contents of the blender (keep your face averted as the paste might
splatter). Fry, stirring constantly, for about 10-12 minutes, or
until paste turns a light-brown color.

Add the coriander [, cumin,] and turmeric and fry, stirring, for
another minute. Put in the minced tomatoes. Stir and fry for another
3 to 4 minutes or until tomatoes turn a dark, reddish-brown shade.
Now our in 2 cups of whey. Add the salt [, half of garam masala,] and
the black pepper. Mix well an bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and
simmer gently for 10 minutes. Lift cover and put in the paneer pieces
and the peas [and half the cilantro]. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes
or until peas are cooked. [Remove from heat and sprinkle on remaining
garam masala and cilantro.]

----- end quoted recipe -----

p. 240-41
----- begin quoted recipe -----
Saag Paneer (Spinach with Paneer)
India

[Anahita's Note: i'm editing this a bit, as Jaffrey's intro to the
dish is four paragraphs long.]

Extracted from intro:
1. Greens used change with the seasons and local preferences:
fenugreek greens, collard greens, beet greens, escarole, mustard
greens. The spinach is sometimes creamed, sometimes coarsely chopped.
2. Jaffrey uses a 12-inch-wide, 4-inch-high, nonstick saute pan. If
you don't have something like this, she recommends browning the
paneer in a well-seasoned heavy cast-iron skillet, then transferring
the oil to a pot big enough for the spinach.
3. She prefers fresh spinach, but says you can use 2 packages of
frozen chopped spinach - cook according to package directions, drain
well, then proceed with recipe.
4. For lunch, stuff warm Saag Paneer into whole-wheat pita halves
with thin slices of onion and tomato.

1-inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 to 1 fresh hot green chili, sliced roughly
Paneer
Salt
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 pounds spinach, washed, trimmed, and very finely chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Put the ginger, garlic, and green chili into the container of an
electric blender or food processor along with 1/4 cup water. You may
need to push down with a rubber spatula once.

Heat the oil in a large, wide, preferable non-stick saute pan over a
medium pan. Put in all the pieces of paneer and fry them, turning
them over gently with a slotted spatula, until they are golden brown
on all sides (This happens fairly quickly). Remove paneer with a
slotted spoon and place on a plate in a single layer. Sprinkle paneer
quickly with the 1/8 teaspoon salt, garam masala, and cayenne pepper.
Set aside.

Put the paste from the blender into the hot oil in your pan (keep
face averted) and fry it, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds.
Now put in the spinach and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir the spinach around
for 1 minute. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and let the spinach cook
gently with the ginger-garlic paste for 15 minutes. There should be
enough water clinging to the spinach leaves to cook them. If all the
water evaporates, add 1 to 2 tablespoons and continue cooking.

Now put in the paneer and cream, stir gently, and bring to a simmer.
Cover, and continue cooking on low heat for another 10 minutes. Stir
once or twice during this period.

----- end quoted recipe -----

Garam Masala
(mostly from Charmaine Solomon's "The Complete Asian Cookbook")

There are many regional variations. Some Indian shops and spice
stores sell this, but it's easy to make your own.

1 teaspoon black cumin seeds (these isn't regular cumin, but you can
use regular cumin)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 inches of cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds
1/4 of a whole nutmeg, grated

Dry roast first four spices separately on a heavy skillet (without
oil) over a medium fire, stirring constantly.
As each begins to smell fragrant, remove and put on a china plate to cool.
When all have been roasted and cooled, put in a blender or spice
grinder along with cardamom, and grind until a fine powder.
Stir in nutmeg.
Store in an air tight container in a cool dark place.


Anahita