Paneer

Paneer (Hindi: पनीर, from Persian پنير sometimes spelled Panir or Paner), is the most common Indian form of cheese. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese that is similar to acid-set fresh mozzarella and queso blanco, except that it does not have salt added. Like mozzarella, Bengali paneer is beaten or kneaded. However, other types of paneer are simply pressed. Paneer is one of the few types of cheese indigenous to the, and is most commonly used in Middle Eastern and South Asian cuisine. Unlike most cheeses in the world, the making of paneer does not involve rennet; it is therefore completely vegetarian. Paneer is a primary source of protein for Buddhists (typically those of South Asian origin) who adhere to vegetarian but not to vegan diets. A similar Indian cheese is Chhéna (pronounced ) which is more crumbly and is used in such as.

Paneer is known in and  by the same name; however, in  and  it is known by the name "Chhena" and in, by names derived from "Panneer" and "Channa" (not to be confused with Chana, the Indian name for the ). A variety of the same is called Chakka(Marathi), which is used to make, a popular dessert in Maharashtra (and Western India).

Preparation
To prepare paneer, food (usually simple lemon juice) is added to hot milk to separate the curds from the whey. The curds are then drained in a muslin cloth or and excess water is pressed out.

From this point, the preparation of paneer diverges based on proposed use. In cuisine, the paneer-cloth is put under a heavy weight, such as a stone slab, for two to three hours, and is then cut into cubes for use in curries. Pressing for a shorter time (approximately 20 minutes), results in a softer, fluffier cheese. and Bengali cuisine demand paneer-dough produced by beating or kneading the paneer by hand into a dough-like consistency. The acid used in the production of paneer by coagulation is acetic or citric acid.

Mughlai cuisine
Paneer is the only type of cheese traditionally known in. The ruling aristocracy in the second millennium AD was of Turkic (Central Asian) and Persian origin, and it was they who introduced paneer to. Due to this, in large parts of, Paneer is an aspirational food, and defines sumptuousness in vegetarian feasts.

Unlike most other cheeses, paneer does not melt at normal cooking temperatures, and is used in many  dishes. It is very popular when wrapped in dough and deep-fried or served with either spinach or peas.

Eastern Indian cuisine
In Bangladesh and eastern India, two kinds of cheese are commonly found: ponir (a hard paneer) and chhena (a soft paneer).

Ponir is a salty semi-hard cheese made in villages across Bangladesh, and Orissa and West Bengal in India. Its sharp flavor and high salt content contrasts with the softer, milder chhena. Ponir is typically eaten in slices at teatime with biscuits or bread, or deep-fried in a light batter.

While Mughlai cuisine uses paneer in spicy curry dishes, the use of chhena in or  is restricted to sweetmeats, for which this region is justly renowned. Most Oriya and Bengali sweets feature chhena beaten by hand into dough-like consistency and then used in crafting the sweetmeat. The chhena used in such cases is manufactured by a slightly different procedure from Mughlai Paneer; it is drained but not pressed, so that some moisture is retained, which makes for a soft, malleable consistency.

The is the classical  made by this method. It features plain chhena beaten by hand into the right consistency, then shaped into balls which are dunked into sugar syrup.

Shrikhand
The is a staple dessert for all festive occasions in Western India, especially in Maharashtra. The raw material needed to make this dessert (called Chakka) is an unpressed variation of the Paneer. Instead of being pressed into a hard and crumbly texture, the yogurt is simple hung in a muslin cloth and the whey allowed to drip naturally for 3 to 4 hours.