China Crumpet

Paneer is a kind of Indian milk cheese. My fave is to use it in Palak Paneer, where the cheese is stewed for a little while in a spinach gravy. There are tones of other uses too though and it really is the easiest thing in the world to make.

All you need is:

1 litre milk
1 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

Boil the milk. When it is boiling, add the vinegar/lemon juice. The mixture will curdle straight away. Turn off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes. Strain the curdled milk into a clean cheese cloth (or cotton kitchen towel) and leave it to drip. You can save the liquid to make bread if you like. When it is dry, tie a knot in the towel (or tie it with a sturdy bit of string) so the cheese is nice and secure in the towel and mould it into a rectangle. Put a heavy weight on top of the whole thing and leave it for a couple of hours to set.

You will be left with a soft bit of white cheese, lovely for cooking with or having with a drizzle of honey. Fried, it turns golden brown and crisp on the outside and soft and mild on the inside. Heaven.