Simple Homemade Cottage Cheese(Paneer)

Cheese is one of the main ingredients of pizzas which provides flavor and the real joy to enjoy the pizza.Some enjoy pizza with less cheese while some enjoy it fully loaded. In this COVID-19 pandemic situation we are told to quarantine and stay home this makes it difficult to make pizzas since most of the super are closed and some which are open do not have cheese with them,worry not because in this instructable we are going to learn how to make cottage cheese with simple two or three ingredients.This recipe does not require any special cooking skills just follow the instructions carefully and you will be able to devour your pizza with homemade cheese.

Now there are many types of cheese available in the market such as Cheddar,Parmesan, etc. Which can also prepared in home but requires some ingredients which are difficult to find.We are choosing cottage cheese since it is the most widely used cheese topping in India for pizzas and is extremely simple to make as compared to other cheese in addition to that it requires less time.Now there are different ways of preparing this cheese which changes with traditions and cultures.

• Milk(0.5 litre)
• Water
• Vinegar(2.5 tablespoons)
• Salt(optional)
• Stainless steel utensils
• Fine mesh colander/Strainer
• Plastic sealing wrap
• Barbecue rubber gloves(optional)
• Thermometer(optional)

Milk:Use non pasteurized milk with high fat content.If available fresh farm milk will work wonderfully.

Make sure all the utensil are properly sanitized prior to use even the tip of the thermometer.

Before starting the process place some water in refrigerator for making ice cubes which will be used in the further steps.

Start by heating the milk in stainless steel pot on low heat,wait till the milk is heated to 110-120 Fahrenheit.You can use thermometer to determine temperature but if you don't have a thermometer use your finger as indication.As you heat up the milk dip your clean finger tip into the milk.Heat the milk to the point where you cannot bear the temperature of the milk on the finger tip.use a spoon to distribute heat properly by moving the spoon slowly into the milk.Once the milk is heated to the proper temperature turn off the burner and slowly start adding vinegar using a spoon.Make sure the vinegar is mixed properly into the milk by using a spoon.As you add the vinegar slowly curds will start to form,keep mixing the milk till most of the curd are formed.Separate the curds using a spoon on one side of the utensils by gathering all the small curds.

Now lift the curds with spoon and try to squeeze the curd to get of water absorbed by the curd.You can use hands to this or use a piece of cotton cloth to strain the water out.Be aware that the curds will be hot,if you are not used to this high temperature heats use barbecue gloves.

When all of the water is squeezed out place the curd in a near boiling water for 5-6minutes.

After the described time is over your can remove the cheese from the hot water bath and shape it into the desired shape.You can add salt to the bath for salty cheese taste.

Now take out ice and cold water into a pot and place the cheese taken out from the hot water bath into the cold water bath which will stiffen the cheese.

Once the cheese has been removed from the cold water bath it is ready to devour.To store the cheese for later use a plastic sealing wrap and keep it refrigerated.

So we have learned how to make cottage cheese which is particularly easy to make and there are less chances for anything to go wrong but still to be safe i opted for less quantity of milk.Once you have understood the steps you can increase the quantity of the milk and vinegar proportionally.