Make Paneer at Home in Various Shapes

I have rarely bought paneer from the store ever since I started making paneer at home three years ago, buying only if I do not have sufficient time.  And the many people who make paneer at home, I have seen them mostly make their paneer and cut into cubes to use in their recipe.

But guess what?  The benefit of making paneer at home is that you can actually shape them any way you want, not just cubes!  I totally make use of that to my advantage and make paneer in various shapes to use in the different paneer recipes.

In this post, I am sharing with you the few different shapes of paneer I have made in the past few years for the distinctive paneer dishes.  I don’t think you’ll need directions for each as the pictures will be self-explanatory, but I will write a short quick note with each.  Nothing too complicated, no fancy shapes, no special equipment, not exactly time-consuming.  To begin with, here’s the recipe on how to make paneer at home.  Remember that you can make these shapes only after the whey is completely drained and if you follow my procedure of mashing the paneer a little and then proceeding to set in container it will turn out better.

1. Cube – commonly cut in squares. You can set paneer in a container or leave in cloth under heavy weight and cut into cubes.

2. Ball – mash paneer with the heel of your palm and roll into balls, the same concept as making balls for rasgulla but there is not need to mash for very long, just until the ball comes together.

3. Rectangle –  set paneer in a square or rectangle container then cut into rectangles, with thin or thick depth, or narrow or wide rectangles...up to you.

4. Circle – roll paneer as a log, cling wrap and leave in refrigerator, easier to cut into pieces when cold.  Same concept as log cookies.

5. Triangle – set paneer in a round container, divide like a pie.  You can set in a rectangle container and cut into triangles too (same concept like cutting croissant triangles from rectangle dough).

And why would anyone want to bother making paneer in different shapes?  To add a little uniqueness to your paneer dishes, that's all.

Enjoy.
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