The Manufacture Of Paneer

Paneer is a soft cheese found in both Pakistan and India.

The raw material is fresh milk from buffalo or cow. The milk is heated to 85 °C for 4 minutes to briefly pasteurise it and destroy any enzymes that would cause uncontrolled curdling. The heated milk is cooled back to 70 °C and lactic acid added (10% w/w) to acidify the mix which then causes coagulation. The whole lot is mixed and stirred to create an even mixture. The curd settles and after 5 minutes is drained of its whey by passing the whole mix through a muslin cloth. Salt is added to the curd to 1.5% w/w to encourage formation and hardening of the cheese. Moulding and pressing over 2 or 3 hours at room temperature which is about 30 °C leads to a white soft cheese. The cheese is stored at chill chain temperatures.