Paneer - Pressure Cooker Version

Paneer is a fresh cheese made by splitting milk into milk solids and whey water. This is the same method used to make Ricotta cheese and essentially they are the same. The main difference is that the store bought paneer is usually packed tightly and is in the form of a nicely shaped brick and can be grated or cut like any other cheese. This can be easily cut into pieces and these pieces can be fried without them melting. Store bought ricotta cheese has water content in it and melts easily. So, the water content of the final paneer that you make at home depends largely on how you plan to use it.

When the water is drained completely, it can be kneaded and shaped into a compact shape which can be cut into cubes. These can then be directly added or pan fried and then added to gravies/curries and these will not melt. If however water content remains in the paneer and it is molded into cubes, these will eventually melt when you cook them and will not hold up as cubes in the curry.

I had thus far always made paneer by boiling milk in an open saucepan and once it started to get to a boil, I used to add lemon juice or diluted vinegar to it to split the milk into paneer and whey. This method is detailed here. I decided to try making paneer in the cooker. I used diluted white vinegar as the acidic agent mixed in with the milk.  And it was just perfect.

Milk doesn't spill over when heated in the Instant Pot and anyway by the time the milk comes to a boil, it is already split and so there is no chance of boiling over even in a stove top pressure cooker.  In fact when I heated just milk under pressure in my Instant Pot, it was just perfect when I opened it up, even though there was no agent to split it up. It had not risen up in the inner pot and there had been no spewing over the top. Of course I had filled it only half way.

Ingredients
whole milk (see method for quantities)
vinegar - 1/4 cup diluted with 3/4 cup water ( I use white vinegar)

Method

Instant Pot (IP)
If using an IP, again, do not fill it more than 1/2 of the inner pot capacity. I use about 5 cups of milk. To this add the vinegar solution and close the lid. Close the vent and cook it in manual mode for 1 minutes on High Pressure. [I had earlier used the timing of 3 minutes but when I remade it, I set the timer to 1 minute and found that the paneer and whey had separated completely even with this lower timing. The paneer was softer too.]

Let the pressure release naturally and then open the lid. Or NPR for 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure by switching to vent. The paneer and whey will be separated.

Pressure cooker
If using a pressure cooker, make sure not to fill the cooker with more milk than 1/2 of the capacity of the cooker (this includes the volume of the added vinegar). It is preferable to keep it to 1/3rd at max to prevent any spraying from the top when the pressure is released (via the whistle mechanism). Add the vinegar water to this. You can also add lemon juice or yogurt (yogurt and lemon juice may not be as tart and could be ineffective if enough quantity is not added). I find vinegar to be the most reliable acidic agent. Heat it on medium high heat till it reaches pressure, then let it cook for a minute or two and  take it off the heat, let the pressure settle and open up to find the paneer and whey separated.

Molding the paneer
Drain the paneer using a linen cloth, rinse it with cold water, and then drain the water. Rinsing it in cold water helps to lessen the effect of vinegar and washed away any taste of the vinegar. Keep some weight on the paneer to drain all the water. Then knead it as it is usually granular to give it a smooth texture which will make it look like store bought paneer. If you know you are going to  use it to make savory dishes, you can add salt to the paneer at the kneading stage so that it is not bland. If you plan to use it to make sweets, do not add salt.
Then pat the kneaded paneer into a flat disc/flat rectangle and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours or more to firm up. You can also wrap it up in cling wrap.

Your paneer is ready. It can now be cut up into cubes or grated like cheese.

Tips
The whey water should be clear and has a greenish tinge. That is an indication that all the milk solids have separated out. If not, heat it up, and add a little more of the acidic agent to the milk. Make sure to use more quantity of yogurt or lemon juice (if using these as these are not as acidic or tart as vinegar. Do not dilute these).

I got about 180 gms/6.4 oz of paneer from 5.5 cups (approx 1/3 gallon) of whole milk (cow's).
You can use lower fat content milk to make paneer as well, but as the fat content reduces, the quantity of paneer extracted will reduce and the texture will also change and can be a slightly rubbery compared to the one extracted from whole milk. You can also use half and half to boost the fat content of the paneer.

Paneer is made the same way as Ricotta Cheese. When all the water is drained, then the paneer cubes will remain as cubes in gravies or curries. Before draining the water, you have ricotta cheese and this will melt. If water content remains in the molded paneer cubes, the paneer will disintegrate and melt into the gravy.

The longer you cook the milk solids in the whey water the tougher they get, so if you release the pressure after natural pressure release for a few minutes, you will get paneer with a softer texture.

Ghee (Tup) - Clarified Butter/Brown Butter

A lot of Indian recipes call for the use of "ghee". As I experiment with and explore new cuisines, I have come to the realization that many other cuisines use this ingredient as well. A great example is brown butter sauce. The french call it "Beurre noisette", which is nothing but ghee without separating out the milk solids. Ghee is pure fat, and is made from butter. I remember my childhood days, when Mom used to collect the top creamy layer from milk everyday and keep it aside. Eventually, she used to process this to make butter.  This homemade butter is possibly the purest and tastiest form of butter. White like snow, soft, and very, well buttery. She then used to heat the butter to transform this into homemade "ghee". The house used to be filled with the aroma of this wonderful ghee and I used to wait to eat the solids that used to collect at the bottom of the cooking pan. It used to be a special treat that I used to eagerly look forward to.

A dollop of ghee added to something as simple as hot steaming rice or dal or even applied on a hot chapati enhances the taste. Add ghee to a curry or spicy dal preparation and take it to a new level. It is recommended that delicacies, whether sweet or spicy, be cooked in ghee to make the dish all the more special. Ghee is an integral part of the Indian cuisine, and is so easy to make at home. Since, in the US, milk is homogenized, it is not easily possible to separate out the cream from the milk. So, we skip the collection of cream process and start directly with butter as the main ingredient. The overall preparation time is roughly ten minutes or less for about a pound of butter. Hope this very easy method inspires you to make ghee at home.

Ingredients
1/2 - 1 pound of butter (1-2 cups)

Method
In a deep cooking pan melt the butter. As it melts, it will begin to foam and you can get melted butter smell. Keep an eye on the butter and stir it around occasionally. It will start changing color and turning slightly golden as it comes to a boil. At this stage, it will begin to foam again. Check if the butter has turned golden in color. If so, turn off the heat and remove it from the stove. You will also get tthe smell of ghee at this stage. After the foam subsides, you will be left with golden clean liquid and brown milk solids at the bottom of the pan. Gently pour the liquid through a fine metal sieve (plastic will melt) or a fine cheesecloth. The liquid is "clarified butter" or "ghee". Put the lid on the storage container once the ghee has cooled down completely. Keep it moisture free and it should last without refrigeration.

 Tips
The pan should be deep enough so that the butter doesn't overflow as it boils and foams.
If you have used unsalted butter, you can add a spoon of sugar and enjoy the milk solids.You can also use salted butter, if you cannot find unsalted butter. The salt sinks into the milk solids and you can easily separate the ghee from the salty solids once the solids settle to the bottom of the pan. Once the ghee starts to foam the second time around, it is really vital that you pay attention and remove the ghee from the heat, as soon as it turns a golden brown. It is at this time, where you can easily end up burning the ghee. To use the ghee as brown butter, do not separate solids and the liquid after the ghee is formed. Mix if up and serve as brown butter or beurre noisette.
In cooler months, ghee will tend to solidify, so you can heat it before use or serving.

The Perfect Dosa - Rice and Urad Dal Crepes

Dosa or dosai is a thin crepe which is a staple in all south Indian homes. In many homes, it is eaten as a breakfast dish and often times serves as a perfect snack, very healthy and filling. Over the last couple of decades, it has become one of the most popular menu items in restaurants all over India. In fact I must say it is probably one of the most popular exports from India, as popular if not more than the ubiquitous palak paneer and chicken tikka masala.

I must confess that until a couple of months ago, I could not make dosa batter. My main challenge - grinding the batter to the right consistency. The rice and urad dal must be very ground very fine. It needs to be very smooth so when you feel it between your fingers, it should feel like paste. You shouldn't be able to feel the grain at all. This entails grinding the rice and dal very fine, which in turn means that you must have a good blender. My previous blender did a pretty good job with the dal but could not grind the rice to a smooth consistency. I often thought that I may have to get a wet grinder to make the batter or a processor from India. However, I recently discovered that my cuisinart blender does a fantastic job. So, if you are having similar challenges and don't want to get a very expensive specialized gadget just for this job, go for a high wattage blender.  Another very important step is to make sure that the batter is fermented. This makes the batter light and the crispy. See the tips below for tricks to make sure that the batter ferments during the cold winter season.

Now, I make dosa batter a couple of times a month.  It lasts for about one week and is very handy. It is the perfect life saver when I come home and don't have the energy to cook a complete meal.

Special thanks to my friend AG for sharing tips and showing me how she makes dosa.

Ingredients
1 cup urad dal (split and washed, so it doesn't have the black peel/skin)
3 cups idly rice (this is parboiled rice. I have tried parboiled rice from a local store before, but the end result was a very sticky batter. So I went back to using rice marked as "Idli/Idly" rice from the Indian store. If you cannot find idli rice, use regular rice)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds/ methi seeds
water, enough to soak the grains
salt to taste (to use when making the dosa)

Method
Soak the rice with enough water to cover the rice and then add some more water so that there is about an inch of water above the level of the rice. Add the methi seeds to this.  In another vessel, soak the urad dal with enough water to soak the dal, again about an inch of water above the dal. Let the rice and dal soak for about 6-7 hours. Grind the rice to a fine paste, as fine as you can. Grind the urad dal till it's soft, smooth and fluffy. The dal becomes very fluffy as it gets finer. After this, mix the two batters together. The consistency of the ground batter should be slightly thick and not watery. It should be similar to cake batter consistency, a little thinner is also ok. Add water to the batter to make sure the consistency is correct. Then cover this and allow it to rest overnight or for about 7-8 hours. At the end of the 8 hours, the batter will have risen a little and will become light and fluffy. Store this in the fridge. You can use a little at a time to make the dosa.

When you make the dosa, take about 2 cups of batter, to this add the water to thin out the batter. This batter should be crepe consistency, so that when you pour it, it flows easily. Add a little salt at this stage, before you make the dosa.

To make the dosa
Add a couple of drops of oil to a non stick pan and grease it. The pan should be hot when you pour the batter. Then, take a ladle full of batter and pour it out onto the center of then pan. Then using the base of the ladle, move the your hand in a circular movement (one direction only- clockwise/anti-clockwise) and move the batter out from the center towards the edge of the pan. Cover the dosa, for a few minutes. Then, uncover and cook till you can the dosa being released from the edges of the pan. The dosa will be light brown at this stage. You can let it brown a little  bit more if you want. Then flip it over and cook it on the other side for a minute. Serve hot with sambar or chutney.

Tips

There are many tips interspersed in the instructions above, so read the method above to prepare the batter . To ferment the batter, especially during winter, keep the batter in the oven (without turning it on), with just the oven light on. Another method, is to cover your batter with a couple of kitchen towels so that as the batter ferments, the temperature is maintained and the container doesn't become cold. If it's really cold, use both, the oven light in conjunction with covering the batter container with the towels. This ensures that the batter is well fermented even if the temperature in the house is at about 60-65 Farenheit.  

Mint and Cilantro Chutney

Green chutney is an absolute must when you make any Indian snack like samosas or patties or chaat items. Make it as an accompaniment for any meal and you will end up enhancing the dining experience for sure. There are different ingredients and recipes and proportions that are used to make green chutneys all over India. Recipes vary by each household. In fact, I myself make different versions of it based on what I plan to serve it with. The green chutney below is one I most commonly make and serve with snacks. And of course, it’s my mom’s recipe!!

Ingredients
5-10 green chilies (adjust the number to taste)
1 cup of mint/pudina leaves, packed
2 cups of cilantro leave, packed
1 tbsp lime juice
1.5 tsp split roasted gram
1-3 tbsp water
½ tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method
Put all the ingredients together in a mixer/blender, except the water. Add a little water at a time till there is enough so that the ingredients can be blended together. Blend till the ingredients are pureed completely and have a paste like consistency. Add a little more water to adjust it to the consistency you want. Taste and adjust the salt and add more lime juice if needed.

Tips
Split roasted gram looks like yellow lentils, but it is soft and easy to bite into. It is also known as “dall” or “phutane”. Do not substitute with split yellow lentils! Add water to change the consistency depending on how you want to use it. If you want to serve it with a snack and use for dipping, it should be thicker. If it is to be used to mix into bhel then you want to make it watery.

Paneer - Basic Recipes

I used to think that making paneer would be a tedious and time consuming process and was resigned to using the store bought one. However, I always missed the fresh taste of paneer that I remembered from childhood. So finally, I decided to try it out and the result was so good that I always make paneer at home. It is definitely not a long, cumbersome process. You need to keep an eye on your milk, so it doesn't boil over, but thats about the extent of attention that it needs. Make it a day ahead of when you want to use it and it will be well set by the next day. That way you can make those perfect cubes that you get in restaurant dishes.

Ingredients
1/2 gallon milk
1/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup water
linen cloth to tie the paneer in
salt (optional)

Method
Heat the milk in a thick bottomed pan. Mix together the vinegar and water. Once you see small bubbles forming on the top, add the vinegar-water mixture and stir it around. The milk solids will separate from the water and you will get whey and curd. Using the linen cloth and a colander, drain out the whey water and keep that aside. The milk solids/curd is the paneer. Squeeze out the remaining whey water from the paneer and then rinse the paneer, so that the vinegar remnants are washed out. If you want to use the paneer in a vegetable, then add a little salt to the milk solids at this stage and then knead the paneer thoroughly. It will come together after a couple of minutes and will become soft and dough like. Then tie this in the linen cloth, making sure that the cloth is tightly wrapped around it. Place a heavy pan on top to flatten it out. You can also shape it a bit and then tie it up. Once its cooled down, keep in the fridge for a few hours. Once its set, you can use it in your paneer preparation.

Tips

Use a pan with a thick bottom, else the milk at the bottom may get burnt. You can use whey water to make bread or chapati dough. If you use a lower fat or fat free milk, the resultant paneer will be very crumbly. Adding salt to the paneer when kneading it will make it flavorful and it will not taste bland when you add it to your paneer vegetable dish.If you plan to make a sweet dish using the paneer, do not add salt to the paneer. You can freeze the paneer for a few weeks.