"Cooking with Anita" - Paneer

Growing up I would complain about the meals my mom would make. Not because they were bad, or that I didn't like them, but because they were Indian. I so badly wanted to fit in I would beg my mom to make taco salad or sloppy joes so that I had some sense of assimilation or just not being the weird Indian girl. 
Anyways, flash forward many years and I have reached a point in my life where I value what my mom cooks and want those recipes handed down to me like they were handed down to her.
Little did I know how crazy this would be. No measuring cups, no rhyme or reason to why she does what she does. Seriously, she used a YOGURTLAND spoon to add spices to the dishes. Recipes that have been made by her mother, and her mother's mother, and so on and so on do not have the elements that I am so use to ( oh you know, measuring cups, spoons, and duration of preparation). 
I hate to have such a lengthy explanation of this but if you could only have seen the chaos in the kitchen as my mom is cooking and trying to explain what she is doing you would understand. I will call these segments "Cooking with Anita" because it felt like a bizarre TV show to the likes of Cooking with Coolio. 


The First thing we made was Paneer. 

Paneer is basically cheese. Indian cuisine, and most other Asian cuisine, rarely has cheese in it. Paneer is the most basic cheese recipe and the only one I've found in Indian cooking. It is extremely easy to make.

For the Paneer you will need:

• 1/2 gallon of milk (I would use whole milk for more flavor)

• 1/3 cup of vinegar 

For this specific paneer dish you will also need:

• two yellow onions (diced)
• four tomatoes (diced)
• a teaspoon or about a quarter of your favorite hot pepper. my mom uses serrano chili or jaleponos, chopped.
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• cilantro for garnish

boiling milk

curds in cheesecloth

cutting up cheese into chunks or squares

tomato, onion, chili and spices

ready

Directions:

1. Bring the milk to a slow boil. Once the milk is boiling (you will see the top begin to foam) add vinegar. You should see the milk immediately begin to curd. Allow this to happen for a few seconds and then turn off the heat. 
2. Take a cheese cloth or any clean dish towel and line a colander with it. Place this in the sink and slowly pour the milk into it. You will see the excess liquid and whey strain leaving thick curds of cheese.
3. When the cloth is cool enough grab both ends and twist them to remove any remaining whey. Place the cloth filled with cheese underneath something flat and heavy. My mom uses the pot she just boiled the milk in. This will drain the rest of the whey and flatten the cheese. Leave for 30 minutes. 
4. After 30 minutes cut the paneer into chunks or squares and set aside. 
5. Eyeball some extra virgin olive oil to cover your pan and place it over medium-high heat. Put in onions and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and chili.
6. Once the vegetables look like they have been cooked through you add all the spices at once. Add the paneer and mix.
7. Cook for another few minutes until everything in the pan is mixed and cooked through.
8. Garnish with cilantro and you're ready to eat. 

These directions are the best I can do considering my mom doesn't really believe in measuring ANYTHING or explaining much but all I know is it really doesn't matter because the end result is worth it.