Making and storing non-fat paneer at home

pman16 · Mar 7, 2012

Friends, i had always avoided paneer due to its high fat content but now im including it in our diet especially for kids..but for me i want to make it low fat one. Im not sure if there are low fat paneer available in the market , if so please let me know the brand. Alternatively, im planning to buy fat free organic milk and make it myself at home. Its a tedious work (as im not used to making it at home) but im willing to do it for health reasons. As dal is the only source of protein for us, i want to include it in our diet.

Now i want to know if i can freeze it and re-use it. How many days can i keep it in the freezer?

Shanvy · Mar 7, 2012

pman, if i can answer this, i make my own paneer, low fat one, and store it for a 15 days..sometimes even 1 month..but here is the trick..i use the mini ziploc food covers,store one time usage cubes in each.this way i have even used it till one month..

I have blogged on it too
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/shanvy/making-chunky-flavoured-paneer-easy-6791 with the chennai heat, power cuts i still manage to keep it freezed and use for 10days these days..

pman16 · Mar 7, 2012

Hi Shanvy, you are most welcome to answer this and im guessing you landed here from keep fit forum.

Now, i had the doubt about low fat version paneer because i read that there cannot be such version.
Source:indian recipe, cooking videos, How to make Homemade Paneer - an Indian cheese recipe video by Show Me The Curry

Read the first two comments in that page below after the recipe.

I did not know that we need to use milk powder apart from milk.

Shanvy · Mar 7, 2012

no yaar, i used milk powder, as i stock skimmed milk powder for sweets, and other things..and i am comfortable making with that. i have made with the low fat milk but the they do not come out so dense..but with milk powder i don't find that problem probably because of soya being there(?) and there is not much fat left in the milk we get as standardised toned milk..and i get a good reasonable quantity from just milk..

i believe paneer is not fat..it is just curdling of milk and the separating the solids and the milk..do we mean to say just because we use low fat hung curd all the curd cream that we get after the process is full of fat.. seriously i don't think so, but then i am not an expert..just guessing..

pman16 · Mar 7, 2012

Shanti, i have seen the total fat % as 35% on the packets which i see in the stores. Want to know if using low calorie milk will lead to low calorie paneer. As such i cannot stand the smell of boiling milk, i hope low fat paneer is available ready-2-use in the stores. I will look for it tomorrow.

shivachoubey · Mar 10, 2012

Dear Pman16,

When I make paneer at home, I keep it in fridge and consume it in 3-4 days. I have never ventured into freezing homemade paneer. I like Amul frozen paneer but its not low fat. I once made paneer out of skimmed milk and the texture was very rubbery and the quantity was also very less.

You can also try Soya paneer. In Pune I used to get flavored soya paneer and it used to be really tasty, they would flavor the soya paneer with herbs and garlic etc and it used to taste amazing, sadly I do not find it here.

Hope this helps.

regards