My Canadian is heading away on a business trip and as such, I have my meals thought out for while he’s gone. I choose to use this time to treat myself with the foods I adore and he does not. Selfish cooking for one, indulging in the flavours and ingredients that I love.
One of these such dishes is Saag Paneer, a north Indian curry made from spinach and mustard leaves. I delight in the little pillows of cheese that sit, half submerged in the spiced, fragrant green sauce. So through a little research I found an easy sauce recipe for me to follow; and accidentally found a recipe for paneer cheese at the same time.
The paneer looked simple enough with two ingredients – milk and lemon juice. So good quality milk is important, I bought a bottle of Lewis Road Creamery blue top milk. Organic, flavourful and of the best quality I could afford. The paneer recipe came from British cook and writer, Anna Jones. Her website and books are full of beautiful, tasty recipes that are accessible to the everyday cook. Take a look when you have a moment.
So armed with a giant pot and more milk than I’ve bought at once this year, I decide to embark on Paneer. It took a while to boil, and thus I was suspicious at the speed of this simple recipe. However, once the milk boiled and rose in the pot, I removed it from the heat. Added the juice of one lemon and literally watch as the curds seperate from the whey. It took no more than a minute!
Scoop the curds from the pot into a muslin lined bowl. Twist into a ball and gently squeeze to release as much liquid as possible. Place on a plate, with a plate on top. Weigh it down with something heavy like a saucepan, mortar and pestle or tin cans. Leave for 40 minutes, unwrap from the muslin and then pan fry. If you’re not using it straight away, take the unwrapped flat ball and put in a container of water. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days – if it lasts that long…
