Paneer is the most common Indian form of cheese that is similar to fresh mozzarella without the salt added to it. It does not melt like any other cheese. Most Paneer is pressed into a cube and then sliced, chopped or crumbled. It is widely used in India and a variety of dishes could be made from Paneer. It is completely vegetarian. It is a good source of protein for vegetarians. Paneer could be made at home by simply bringing milk to a boil and using acid to separate the curds. The curds are then drained in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and excess water is pressed out. Now tell me Who wouldn’t like paneer?
1 whole paneer – cubed
1 medium size onion grated or finely chopped
Tomato puree 1/2 cup. Tomato paste could be added as an alternative by mixing with water.
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp garlic (optional)
1/4 cup thawed frozen peas or you can use fresh peas
1/4 cup yogurt or curd
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp Dhania or Coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp Garam Masala (optional)
1 cinnamon stick, 3 -4 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 cardamom or elaichi (Break open it )
1 tsp cumin seeds or jeera
Oil and salt to taste
First boil some water. Turn off the stove, add turmeric, salt, mix well and then add the cubed paneer pieces. Let it soak in it for 10 -15 minutes. Drain the water. You will see that the paneer absorbed the yellow color of the turmeric.
In a pan, add oil and when hot, add jeera. Then add the cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and elaichi and saute. Now add the grated onion and saute well. Add the tomato puree and let it cook well until oil separates. Add some turmeric, chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala to the yogurt and mix well.
Add this yogurt mixture to the onions and cook. Add some water if needed. Then add the paneer pieces, mix well. In the end, add the thawed peas.
If you are using fresh peas, first add the peas, cook and then add the paneer. Bring it to a boil and your favorite paneer recipe is ready to be served with Bread or Chappatis or Rotis or Naan bread or Tortillas.
© 365 Days of Pure Vegetarian 
I tried matar paneer yesterday, came out yummyyyyyy
Made mutter paneer yesterday turned out very well.
Thanks so much Niru for trying it out and posting this comment. I am so glad that it turned out well for you. Let me know if you would like to see some recipes. I will try my best to post it.
–Priya
Thanks – that looks great; I’m looking forward to trying it! Is there a way to make paneer from cottage cheese? It looks like compressed, drained cottage cheese (unless cottage cheese is different in my part of the world). Could simply pressing it in a cheesecloth be enough?
Hi Paul,
Thanks for checking out my site and your wonderful comments. Check out this website for more information on making home-made Paneer – http://indianfood.about.com/od/menus/r/paneer.htm. Once you made it from scratch try to press it against some square or rectangular mold/container to get the shape. Refrigerate it before cutting into cubes. I hope this helps.
Hi,
Thanks….looks very yummy…..i like to make panneer(but little confused)….i read ur receipe for panner …i wanna know how much time i hav to press dat (for a day) cause i tried paneer at home at when i put in sabji it always loose like thred….so plz tell me every detail of making paneer..
Thanks once again
Rupali,
You need not press the paneer when home-made. In fact you should not. Just drain the paneer in a cheese or muslin cloth and let it drain itself all the moisture. This could take up to 2 hours. This is fresh paneer. If you want more like store bought cube shaped, I am not aware. May be the fresh paneer is put into molds and pressed and refrigerated for hours to get the shape. Home made paneer is always in a crumbled form.
I hope this helps.
I want to make this recipe using a 5 lb block of paneer. The recipe calls for 1 paneer. I am trying to figure out how to increase proportions. Any suggestions? How much is a whole paneer?
Beth
Beth,
Thanks for checking out the recipe. 1 whole paneer is about 1 lb. So you can increase the contents to the following:
2 large size onion grated or finely chopped
Tomato puree 2 to 2 & 1/2 cup. Tomato paste could be added as an alternative by mixing with water.
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp garlic (optional)
1 & 1/4 cup thawed frozen peas or you can use fresh peas
1 & 1/4 cup yogurt or curd
1 tbsp turmeric powder
4 tbsp Dhania or Coriander powder
2 tbsp red chilli powder or per taste of heat
3 tsp Garam Masala (optional)
3 cinnamon stick, 6 – 7 cloves, 4 – 5 bay leaves, 4 cardamom or elaichi (Break open it )
1 tbsp cumin seeds or jeera
Oil and salt to taste
This should be okay. Always adjust seasoning as per your taste. I hope this helps. Best Wishes. Let me know how it turns out.