Help me to make cheese

On 02/03/06, Hussain Al Aveny wrote:

Hi there

I m from India exactly from Hyderabad .

I went through your site and it was really fantastic website spcially carrot ka halwa.

Now i m intersted in making Cheese but what i find is Rennet the problem. From where can i get rennet in hyderabad is it available in medical hall or regular stores

and what does it calledin hindi or urdu?

And yes i found one method of making cheese in your great site.You said appling lemon juice?so whats the difference between using lemon juice and Rennet?

Waiting for your replay

Thanks in advance

Aveni....

Hello Aveni

I don't know what Renner is called in Hindi.

From Web dictionary, "it is an extract from the membranes of calves' stomachs which contains rennin, an enzyme that aids in coagulating milk or separating curds from whey. Rennet-like enzymes, also used commercially, are produced by selected fungi and bacteria."

Vegetarian Rennet is "produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei. Vegetarian cheese may also be made using a rennet from the bacteria Bacillus subtilis or Bacillus prodigiosum."

I only make paneer cheese. I will post your question on the Forum on my website, perhaps someone else will be able to tell you. Otherwise, your best bet is ti get hold a book on cheese making or search the web.

Lemon/vinegar is used to make India paneer because Rennet is mostly non-vegetarian and comes from a cow's stomach at that! Can you imagine Hindus ever eating anything that comes from the sacred cow? Even if vegetarian rennet became widely available in India, it will be far too expensive, whereas, lemons and vinegar are dirt cheap!

Mamta

Still haven't got around to making my own cheese yet.. its the cloth bit that I can't source.. would a really clean tea-towel work?

So warm the milk to nearly boiling (but don't let it boil)..

then do I add the lemon juice and let it cool..or let it cool then add?..

If (as I want to do) I want the cheese to be more of a block, do I put it in the cloth and press it while warm or do I wait until cool?

Do I need to add salt? (as cheese is often salty)

Thanks..

Hello Steve

I hope yu will make the paneer, it is cheaper and fresher.

You can use an old kitchen towel, provided it is not too rough. You need it smooth, so that the cheese doesn't get caught in it's texture. Don't you have and old, men's handkerchief? That will do very well for a litre or two milk.

Heat the milk to boiling and then turn the heat down, so it is still simmering. If you add lemon to colder milk, it doesn't curdle easily. Now add lemon/vinegar, a spoon at a time, until milk curdles. Let it simmer for a few seconds, until a translucent whey separates.

Place your hankie in a colander, pour the milk over it. Once the whey has drained fully, pull together the corners of the hankie and tie the cheese into a loose ball. Place on a draining board and leave it to press with a pan full of water sitting on top of it for weight. Leave for an hour or so. Longer you leave it, harder it is. Good luck!

Mamta

I am going to give it a go.. one way or another...

will report back when done..

Well I've give it a little experiment today...

Frist thing I've noticed.. It takes a lot of milk for a little cheese !

To test I used 500ml of boiled milk

http://www.askcy.com/food/cheese/001%20milk.jpg

Then added lemon juice (all the time stirring) so it split/curdled

http://www.askcy.com/food/cheese/002%20split.jpg

Drained off the water (in a teatowel)

http://www.askcy.com/food/cheese/003%20drained.jpg

Squeezed as much moisture out in the teatowel and then put it between 2 dishes (to be honest not much came out at this point)

http://www.askcy.com/food/cheese/004%20pressing.jpg

Allowed it to cool (forced it to cool under cold water to be exact, just so I could see if it had worked and take the pictures) I've made it a solid type of cheese rather than cottage cheese type.

http://www.askcy.com/food/cheese/005%20done.jpg

And then just to create an aide-memoire to doing it again

http://www.askcy.com/food/cheese/merge.jpg

Haven't tasted it yet.. thought I should leave it to mature a little...

Loooks good Steven, I have saved all the pictures.

I hope it was fine after pressing. You can use unpressed/crumbled paneer to make Paneer stuffed vegetables, many desserts/sweets, Paneer keema (mince), paneer balls etc., etc. Just put paneer in the search window and see!

Mamta

I've tried it and its a bit plane .. but like I said I didn't add anything like salt and used fully skimmed milk.

It does seem to have gone slightly more yellow on colour today (as you might expect a cheese to look as its aged ? )

would using semi-skimmed or full fat milk give it a different flavour? (thinking the fat content must add to the flavour)

Hello Steven

To make best cheese that is soft, use blue top milk. I have amended the recipe to include this.

Paneer cheese is a little bland in taste, though I love it. Remember, it is fresh cheese, with no maturing involved. No salt needs to be added. Usually, it is cooked with spices, salt, vegetables, batter etc. Try deep frying some cubed fresh cheese and eat it with a sause/chutney. It is lovely! Add a few cubes to the Peas Pilaf; http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10147

In old days, before you could buy it ready-made in UK, I used to make paneer from a full crate of milk at a time, and freeze portions. My milk-man used to tease me, "are you having a milk bath again today then"?

Mamta

Milk baths are supposed to be very good for the skin... LOL

I presume "blue top" is Full fat (whole milk) as it changes depending on which farm/dairy/supplier you get your milk from.

I might try adding a couple of bayleaves or some peppercorns in during the actual making...

That is a good idea! You can add cumin, chopped chillies, chopped coriander leaves, mint, garlic, red peppers etc. etc. Sky is the limit. add and mix it before you press the cheese.

You can buy some thse variations from india shops, so why not make them at home.

Since you are agood cook, why not try making a cheese sweet like rasagullas, cheese calls in sugar syrup, they are yummy!

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10177

I keep typing wrong letters, the keyboards here in India are slightly different!!

Mamta

(you know when I'm abroad and can't find a letter or icon on the keyboard, I look for it within other text on the board I'm on and copy and paste it)

I haven't quite mastered cheese yet.. not quite ready to move onto making things with it... maybe one day..

Hello

Thank you for your photos attached to this thread. They are certainly very clear and will be very useful. I have always been hesitant to make paneer but now I will give it a try.

Glenys

I was just reading this thread & the only contribution (my first here) I can make is to go to your local hardware store - or even Robert Dyas.

There is always a cooking/utensils aisle, pots pans pastry cutters ... and cloths for straining cheese are about ?3.

I would buy two as the double thickness prevents the mixture oozing during the straining process.

This topic might help with the Paneer question

Don't throw the the liquid away when you make the cheese - use it when you need liquid when making a curry etc - freeze it if you have to.

This thread reminded me of our visit to my brother-in-law.

He offered to make Gulaab Jamun, But the milk didm not break

even when a whole bottle of lemon juice had been used.

It was long life.

Hello Sayed

You brother in-law must have added lemon juice to cold milk. You only need a couple of spoons to a liter.

Anyway, Gulab Jamuns do not need paneer, unless he was making Kala Jams.

For paneer, follow either Paneer making or Steven's (AskCy) step by step guide further up in this thread.

Mamta

Hi - I started making paneer at home recently because I don't live near anywhere that sells it. I use skimmed milk for mine because I don't have a very high fat tolerance, and it works all right but it is a bit crumbly, even though I press it well. This doesn't really matter, since the saag paneer still tastes just as good. :-)

I really appreciate all the suggestions here, especially the one about adding spices. I think I'll try that next time!

Glad its worked out well !

I was surprised, its not as hard as you might think. I'm sure I wouldn't have tried to make my own without this site to ask for help and directions.

I use Rennet from New England Cheesemaking Company, maybe www.cheesemaking.com. They will send you whatever you want, they also have a newsletter and some recipes. Both animal and vegetable rennet are available.

This website lokes great for begineers and eastern ladies, I live in Karachi, Pakistan. Some days before I tried to make cheese with method as suggested before, I hanged the cloth in refrigerater's grill for about a week and when I realesd, it smells same as cheese and yellow in colour but my mom didn't allow me to eat it due to risk of food poisoning.

Can I use cottage cheese (home-made) for pizzas?

Hello Zian

Welcome!

Paneer or cottage cheese on Pizza? Not really, but you can try. Don't you get buffalo milk Mozzarella cheese in Pakistan? It is freely available all over India, so I just wondered if you can find it over there too. Ask you Pizza restaurant where they get their cheese from. Do you get cheddar or any other types of cheeses there?

Best wishes

Mamta

I can't remember ever trying to cook cottage cheese, but I'd guess it would be too wet for a pizza topping...

Maybe if you dried it out it might make an interesting differnce on a pizza?..

If you try it let us know.

Steve

If you get truly stuck for a cheesecloth, try buying a pack of Muslin Nappies - works well for jelly making and should be ok for cheese too - it's open weave to allow liquid through without any 'lumpy bits'

Good Luck

This is a good tip, thanks. I use my husband's old handkerchiefs mostly!

Mamta

Since it became fashionable to make clothes out of cheesecloth you can normally get a much better deal per metre in fabric shops (especially with remnants) than the paltry sizes you generally get overcharged for in 'kitchen shops.'

There are many vegetarian options to coagulate milk. I think some stinging nettles, Lady's bedstraw and some other herbs will do this. I have made cheese, 'cheddar', mozzarella and a blue mould cheese. I have only used rennet, real animal derived rennet. But I do know there are other options. This is probably not the forum for finding them, however!

I did find an eBay supplier in the UK who will post vegetarian rennet to international locations. I don't seem to be able to post with his link attached, but the shop is maintained by brucedolby, Just look for rennet there, he says it is vegetarian.

The non woven nappy liners work well for draining small amounts of curd and are reusable.

I tend to use a piece of wet t shirt (or other cotton knit). No sticking, and washes well. Works for me for many sorts of fresh curd.

Good luck with your cheese making, it is an interesting hobby. This is a very interesting forum!

Cheers, Polly

For making cheese I use cider vinegar as the acidifier and 'vegeRen' as the coagulant. The vegeRen is available from Sainsburys for ?1.09 including on-line (I did check the other supermarkets for impartiality but to no avail!) Not much use if you are not in the UK, although health food shops do seem to be increasingly stocking it or you can get a UK friend to post it to you.

I went on a cheese-making workshop this summer and am now hooked! Once I have complete confidence in my recipe (not though I have had any failures yet) I'll ask Mamta to post it. If you can make paneer you can also make cheese, using normal kitchen equipment, just a couple of extra steps such as the coagulation and maturing.

Hi.. there I have being trying really hard to find rennet tablets online to make cheese...but cannot find the website. I would really appreciate if I can get any help regarding this.

Thanks

I thought I'd add that some 30 years ago I made Paneer by adding Alum powder to milk. I those days it could only be obtained from a chemist. However by sheer cooincidence I found it for sale in my local Asian grocery store.

Just another option,

Martin

Hi there... I live in India an am looking for vegetable rennet..but unfortunately

I am unable to get it...Please help..

Hi.. Thanks for the reply Martin....but I am specifically looking for vegetable rennet to make mozzarella cheese...so lime vinegar..alum...won't help..

Thanks

Kasturi

Kasturi

We are based in UK so can't really help on specific suppliers of ingredients in India. Can only suggest you contact some of your local vendors and see if one can order this product in for you specially?

Hi...all

Thank you for the information...I really hope I will find a local vendor to help me find vegan rennet...wish me luck..

Hi,

You can try http://essdeemarketing.com/orders/

for rennet . They take orders but just to let you know they supply'microbial rennet '. I was a bit skeptical bein a Jain .

I've been interested to read this thread. 30 years ago I made my first batch of paneer using Alum powder to curdle the milk (available then only from chemists!). These days, isn't it just so easy to make with lemon juice? I have a permanently situated hook on the underneath of my wall cupboard which I use for draining the paneer. I use a square of jam making muslin by the way (it's got loops at each corner precisely for the the draining process.

By the way in the UK we call the solids in this process 'Curds' and the drained liquid 'Whey'.

Which brings me to my point. Whey has some fantastic uses. You know a cat can smell Tuna from miles away - well try whey with your dog. They love it. It has many culinary uses and even works wonders on your compost heap. Just search on the internet for 'Whey'and you'll be pleasantly suprised on what you can do with it.

Martin

Hello Martin

In India, most people I know do not throw away whey. They use it in their dals/curries etc. or save some to use for making next batch of paneer.

In India, curd/curds means yoghurt :-)

As ever, there are many ways to use byproducts. How would the whey be used with lentils?

Regards,

Martin

You can cook lentils in less water than normal and then thin it with the whey.

Thanks Mamta I'll give it a go.

Martin

Hi, i read all the messages.

Since we produce high quality paneer I am adding suggestions

1. Do not split milk while boiling. It makes paneer hard and lots of nutrition is drained away in whey. Also amount of paneer produced will be very less. About 6 to 6.5 litres for 1 kg

2. Keep whey from first paneer and use it for next splitting. Makes better paneer as no acid is used

3. Let milk cool to 65°C and slowly keep adding whey till milk is fully split. Use full fat milk.

4. Drain whey immediately using clean dhoti cloth and tie it up. Put the bundle under light weight for pressing for two hours

5. The resultant paneer will be very soft and tasty.

6. 5 litres of pure milk will give 1 kg of paneer

7. Vegetable rennet is available online. Although price is high amount required is very less.

8. Making cheese is an entirely different process than paneer. Please do not confuse paneer as unprocessed cheese.

9. I will post cheesemaking process some other time

Vegetable rennet is available on Amazon.in. Its made from fig leaves, melons, wild thistles and safflower so can be safely used by vegetarians

Thank you Deba. I will try your suggestion of splitting milk at a lower temperature next time I make it. Using 'paneer water' from previous batch is very common in Indian homes, including my mum's. I had completely forgotten about it!

I sometimes dilute the lemon juice before adding to hot milk, but not tried it splitting it at lower temperature, except when experimenting with making Bengali rasgullas, where perfection is still alluding me!

Once I have tried making it with milk whey, I will certainly edit the recipe to includes this.