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Make your own bitters.
Indian Essentials: Paneer and Ghee
A couple of times a year, Todd and I go on an Indian food cooking extravaganza, prepping all sorts of curries and sauces that we can combine with veggies and use straight out of the freezer. This is a great time-saver because so many of the dishes we make have shared ingredients - there's an economy of scale to making several at once and packing the extra away for days when we have no time to cook, but enough time to reheat.
Once we figure out what we'll cook, we start gathering ingredients a few days ahead. Our sources are two books we use often: Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking and Vikram Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine. We've established a decent pantry of harder-to-find ingredients, but cooking Indian food always involves a trip here and there to gather some random spice, herb, or vegetables. It's also when I start making two essentials: ghee and paneer.
One could argue that oil would do just as good as ghee in most curries, but I'm not one to argue that case. Even if a curry has 20 individual flavors that might normally sideline the nutty flavor of ghee, I'd argue that ghee should be counted as one of those essential flavors. Aside from contributing a rich mouthfeel, it's got an unmistakable nut aroma that makes my mouth water well before any other flavors have taken hold.
And paneer's creamy cooling properties can act as a respite from any complex curry, and is perhaps the simplest cheese of all to make (my cheesemaking started with my post on chevre and feta). The hard thing is making it last in the refrigerator before we start cooking in earnest - it's so tasty, little bits start to disappear nearly as soon as it's firmed up.
Homemade Ghee (also known as clarified butter)
Unsalted butter (see notes for amount)
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, slowly melt the butter until it starts to foam. - Carefully lift the foam off the top of the melted butter and continue to cook the butter until the solids start to turn brown. This takes 10 - 15 minutes, cooking on medium-low.
- Strain the clarified butter from the browned butter solids (I pour until I reach the nutty bits, and then stop. Whatever's left with the browned bits can still be used.)
Notes:
- I didn't include amounts for butter because you can cook as little or as much butter as you need, but because I usually make this in conjunction with cooking Indian food, I often start with 1 pound butter (4 sticks).
- Sometimes I skim the foam as I go, leaving few milk solids to brown in the pan. The browned milk solids are what gives ghee that nutty flavor, but push it too far and you'll get a greasy burned flavor.
- If I've skimmed all along, the milk solids are still viable to use in another dish. I browned slivered almonds in the dregs of ghee-making, and used them to top grilled trout - a perfectly acceptable way to recycle the solids.
- If you don't skim as you go, you'll have a good collection of browned butter solids when you're done cooking the ghee. While I haven't tried this myself, I've heard of some folks adding this to cookie dough, or sprinkled over pasta.
Homemade Paneer
Whole milk
1 - 2 T lemon juice or vinegar
- In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring the milk to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to prevent sticking.
- As soon as the milk boils (a full boil, not just a little movement), add the lemon juice or vinegar and remove from the heat.
- Stir the acid into the milk, and you should start to see curds forming immediately, If you do not see curds, add more acid.
- Allow the milk to separate for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Strain into a cheesecloth-lined bowl.
- Tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and slip a wooden spoon or chopstick through so you can suspend the package over a bowl. Allow it to drain for an hour.
- When the curds look dry (which may take more or less time, depending on the weave of your cheesecloth), take the package down, untie the ends, and fold it into a rectangular shape.
- Place the cheese 'package' in a pie pan (or some other flat plate with a rim) and then place a heavy pot filled with water on the package to press the remaining liquid out of the cheese. This may take 2 - 6 hours, depending on your preference to dryness of the cheese.
- Refrigerate for up to a week or wrap tightly and freeze for up to a month.
Notes:
- The last time I made this, the lemon juice didn't curdle the milk, even when I doubled the amount, so I added champagne vinegar. It promptly curdled, which tells me that either the lemons just weren't acidic enough, or maybe the milk was too old. Not sure, but it pulled together with vinegar.
- I don't like the taste of white vinegar, so I prefer to use champagne vinegar, but this is a personal preference. Many folks use cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, but it needs to be a clear rather than a colored vinegar (like balsamic or red wine vinegar).
- I save the whey and use it in soup. It's not too vinegary, and it does add a little body to creamy soups. Save it and freeze it.
Comments
good idea
I have seen paneer on other sites. I have been wanting to make it for a while now. You have inspired me to finally do it. Its hanging right now.
I was wondering what kind of a yield you get. If you happen to know I would like to know. Just curious.
Economies of scale
Such a good idea, to cook lots of Indian curries and sauces at once. I've made paneer a couple of times, and it is well worth the little bit of time and effort it takes.