Paneer

What is Paneer Cheese?

Paneer is a fresh acid-set cheese made from cow milk or buffalo milk, and it is the most common cheese in the traditional cooking of the Indian subcontinent. It shows up most often in north Indian dishes, though its usefulness has carried it across the country. The name came into English from the Hindi-Urdu panir, which traces back through Persian to Old Iranian, and related words mean cheese in Armenian, Turkish, Bengali, Kurdish and Pashto.

Where it came from is still argued. Vedic literature describes curdling milk with plant material such as palash bark, jujube and putika, but the references are doubtful, and Otto Schrader read the Rigveda passage as a skin of sour milk rather than cheese. One theory places the origin in Persianate lands, with the cheese taking its present form under the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals. The National Dairy Research Institute credits Afghan and Iranian invaders. A fourth account gives the Portuguese credit for bringing the technique of breaking milk with acid to Bengal in the 17th century.

Making it is quick. Lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid or dahi goes into hot milk to split the curds from the whey, the curds drain in muslin or cheesecloth, and the water is pressed out. The cheese then sits in chilled water for two to three hours, which improves its texture and appearance. In the north, the curds go under a stone slab for two or three hours and are cut into cubes for curries. Press for only about twenty minutes and the result is softer and fluffier.

Regional practice varies from there. In Bengali, Odia and other east Indian kitchens the chhena is beaten or kneaded into a dough, salted heavily and hardened into ponir, eaten in slices at teatime with biscuits or bread, fried in a light batter, or cooked into dishes. Around Surat in Gujarat, surti paneer is made by draining buffalo milk curds and ripening them in whey.

Paneer dishes run sweet or spicy. Matar paneer pairs it with peas, shahi paneer sets it in a Mughlai curry, and palak paneer puts it with spinach. Cubes go on skewers and get roasted for paneer tikka, or fried as pakora, or cooked with bell peppers for kadai paneer. Chilli paneer belongs to Indian Chinese cooking, with hot chilies and spring onions on top.