Spicy Paneer
It’s been a hectic day, from having a sick child and tons of laundry to wash, I barely had time to breath. Luckily, I had some Spicy Paneer in the freezer which I made about a week ago. I could never freeze meals and feed that to my family but paneer is not a cooked meal so it’s okay to freeze.
This paneer was exactly what I needed to make a tasty curry. I have a spoilt family that has gotten used to the idea of having freshly cooked meals everyday. I guess when you quit your corporate job and stay home your family expects a clean home, clean laundry, fresh food everyday…and then some days I still get asked the question “what have you been doing all day”.
Never mind the fact that I have a helper only a few days a week and I clean on other days, I play chauffeur to the kids, I do homework, I have clients and I play maintenance lady. I fix things that I can, call on people to help with things I can’t, doesn’t my day look all rosy! So I shouldn’t be complaining about cooking???
Enough of my ranting! Let me share with you my Spicy Paneer recipe. I always thought it was difficult to make but it is about the easiest thing ever! You boil milk, add lemon juice and you’ve got paneer.
What is Paneer
For those that don’t know what’s paneer, it is a cheese made by curdling milk with an acid such as lemon juice and vinegar. It is used in Indian cooking and normally homemade but you do get store bought paneer too.
Getting Creative with Paneer
I tried to be a little adventurous so I made my paneer a little different to how it’s usually made. I added some spice to it and it didn’t turn out bad at all.
I’ve never seen anyone else do this before so I thought it was quite ingenious, if I should say so myself. I used this paneer in my Paneer Makhani Recipe and it was delicious!
Versatile Paneer
The thing about Paneer is that you can make so many dishes with it. There are literally hundreds of different ways you can use Paneer. I have a few recipes with paneer on my blog and I am sure I will be adding more.
Here are just a few of ways you can use Paneer:

Paneer with Spice
Ingredients
- 2 litres Full cream milk It must be full cream as it has a high fat content
- 5-6 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tspn salt
- 1/2 tspn ground cumin
- 1 green chilli finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mint leaves finely chopped
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- muslin or cheese cloth to strain cheese
Instructions
- Heat milk on medium heat until bubbles form on top
- Add 4 tbsp. lemon juice and mix until it starts to curdle. Wait a few seconds and if it doesn't curdle add more lemon juice until the curds and the whey starts separating
- Line a stainless steel colander with a cheese or muslin cloth
- Pour the curdled mixture into the cloth and allow all the whey to drain out
- Add the herbs, chilli, salt and spices. Mix well
- Bring the ends of the cloth together and squeeze out the excess whey. Wrap it into a neat little bundle and place something heavy on top, I use a heavy pot. Set aside for 30 minutes
- Cut into cubes. Paneer can be frozen