Homemade paneer cheese is a canvas for flavour

It’s dead easy to make and transforms into everything from wraps to sweet, sticky desserts.

Mini paneer kathi rolls Source: Anjum Anand

If you think making cheese sounds too tricky, paneer is the DIY cheese for you. It really is that easy, and it only calls on two ingredients.

“This unsalted white cheese is an absolutely basic Indian foodstuff, and you might think it takes hours to prepare. Not so. You can make a block of fresh paneer in just forty minutes,” says Anjum Anand, who shows how it’s done in her TV series Indian Food Made Easy. And half of that time involves no effort on your part, as you leave the cheese to drain and press.

Making paneer is doubly rewarding, too – there’s the satisfaction of making your own cheese, and then there are endless possibilities for turning it into sweet and savoury dishes.

“Paneer is a blank canvas, so there are many ways to use it, in fact, it takes to all flavours,” Anand says when we chat to the busy TV host, cookbook author and businesswomen (she’s also the driving force behind the Spice Tailor brand).

“As well as grilling marinated cubes, we use cubes in a curry often along with some vegetables. The most famous pairings are with peas (mutter paneer) or with spinach (saag paneer). We also break cubes up and scramble them with some onions, tomatoes, coriander and simple spicing.”

You can also turn it into everything from Anand’s vibrant paneer and chutney rolls, or even sweet cheese desserts.

“It has a fresh farmer’s cheese like quality and a dense, crumbly texture that works wonderfully with the spices of India but equally well with flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of quality olive oil. It is full of virtues; it is a great source of protein, packed with vitamins and minerals and so tasty that even hardened carnivores find it hard to pass up a well-made paneer dish,” Anand says of her paneer recipe.

Here’s how to join the paneer party:

The basic cheese

You need only two ingredients for Anand’s simple paneer: milk plus yoghurt or lemon juice. The milk is brought to a boil, and then yoghurt or lemon juice is added to create the curds. It’s then strained and pressed to create a block of paneer. “You can serve it any way you like but one of my favourites is to marinate it in a delicious sauce of herbs and yoghurt, wrap it up in foil and cook it on the barbecue until hot and steaming,” says Anand. Her recipe guides you through making paneer and also includes that flavour-packed marinade.  

You can store the plain un-marinated paneer in water in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it.

Anjum Anand's marinated paneer Source: Anjum’s Australian Spice Stories

Try other milk

You can also make paneer with other kinds of milk – try Peter Kuruvita’s recipe for goat’s milk paneer or this version by Mitch Humphries using buffalo milk, if you’re lucky enough to be able to get your hands on some.

Simple paneer skewers

Once you’ve made your cheese, there are endless options for using it in dishes. In Indian Food Made Easy, Anand turns her freshly made paneer into tandoori vegetable skewers. “Paneer is a joy to grill,” she says.

Tandoori paneer and vegetable skewers Source: Martin Poole

Another barbecue option: Ross Dobson’s blackened paneer skewers with fresh tomato relish.

Blackened paneer skewers Source: Murdoch Books

Classic greens

Paneer pairs perfectly with various greens. Try it in a vibrant North Indian palak paneer – this version pairs soft paneer with spinach, tomato and cream.

Palak paneer Source: Brett Stevens

You can ring the changes in Matthew Evans’ take on saag paneer, using whatever greens you have to hand – spinach, kale and beet tops are some options. The spice level, too, is up top you.  “We tone it down a bit in the spice department at Fat Pig, because that way it marries well with our other dishes. You can spike it up more with extra chilli and garam masala, especially if making a full Indian meal,” he suggests.

The Gourmet Farmer's saag paneer Source: Alan Benson

Street food star

Discover the appeal of fried paneer - it goes wonderfully golden on the outside and soft on the inside - in these Mumbai Frankies, a popular Indian street food.

Fried cheese and vegetable wrap (paneer Frankie) Source: Jason Loucas

It's also the star in Anjum Anand's kathi rolls, another take on the same street food favourite. "Different places have their own versions and there are no strict rules: as long as a soft bread (with a slight chew) envelopes a fresh, hot, tangy filling with red onions for crunch, you are in the right zone and in for a treat," she says. Her recipe marinates paneer in a mixture of yoghurt, herbs and spices, and pairs the fried cheese with homemade wraps, served up with a vibrant green chutney.

Mini paneer kathi rolls with herb chutney Source: Anjum Anand

Chilli paneer

Rajwant Kaur Sandhu’s dish of paneer, potato, capsicum and spices is ready in well under an hour, for a hearty and vibrant meal.

Chilli paneer Source: Brett Stevens

A salad twist

“My daughter loves quinoa in salads. I'm continuously experimenting to introduce Indian food in quinoa-fied form and this one has been on rotation for a while. Though it looks like a dry curry, it is more like a salad,” says Kulsum Kunwa of her curried red quinoa, pea and paneer salad. “I also throw in whatever I might have on hand, like shaved asparagus, tomatoes, sliced red onions, arugula [rocket] or even roasted cauliflower.”

Curried red quinoa, pea and paneer salad Source: Kulsum Kunwa

Sweet paneer

Various twists on the basic idea of paneer – turning milk into curd cheese – also pop up in sweet recipes, such as these paneer balls in saffron sugar syrup (rasgulla). Allow a few extra hours for this; it’s mostly hands-off time, as the paneer balls are cooked and refrigerated in a sweet syrup for several hours, so they go deliciously sticky.

Paneer balls in saffron sugar syrup (rasgulla) Source: Chris Cjhen