Whether you are making a cheesecake, adding cheese into your pasta sauce or spreading it out on toast, cheese is a super delicious kitchen-essential ingredient to have! In this article, I’ll let you in on how to make cheese at home! So here you go with the recipe.
Mozzarella cheese without rennet –
Mozzarella cheese is one of the healthiest cheese with low sodium and calories. It contains probiotic that helps to strengthen the immune system and fight infections.
You will need –
- Full fat raw milk – 1 litre
- Vinegar – 4 tbsp
Use raw milk that is unpasteurized or low pasteurized and a good quality white vinegar. The first step is to heat the raw milk on a very low flame for 2-3 mins. Dip your finger to check if the milk is lukewarm or until the milk reaches 32ºC/90ºF.
Once the milk is warm, turn off the flame and slowly add in the vinegar a little amount at a time and stir it in gently to combine it with the milk. Close the pan and let it rest for 20 mins or until thick curd is formed. Collect the curds and squeeze off the excess water from it.
Take a bowl with hot water and add 1 tsp of salt to it. Place the curds in the water for 2-3 mins, remove from the hot water and gently knead and roll the curds into a ball. Repeat this process 3-4 times, placing the curds back in the hot water and kneading and rolling until u have smooth and soft cheese. Take another bowl of cold water and in few ice cubes in it. Now place the rolled cheese into the bowl and let it rest for 3-5 mins.
Remove the cheese, squeeze off the excess water and place it in a air-tight container for 2-3 hours before use. Slice the cheese or grate it on your pizza or pasta.
Tips – If the milk is too hot then the cheese turns into paneer ( cottage cheese) which u can use to make yummy dishes like palak paneer.
Cottage cheese Recipe –
You will need –
- Whole milk – 1 litre
- Vinegar or lemon juice – 4 tbsp
The first step is to heat the raw milk on a very low flame for 2-3 mins until the milk reaches 120ºF.
Once the milk is warm, turn off the flame and slowly add in the vinegar a little amount at a time and stir it in gently to combine it with the milk. Stir slowly for 1 to 2 minutes. The curd will separate from the whey. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture using a cheese cloth. Stir with a fork to break up curds and combine. Taste and add more salt if needed. Chill before serving.
Butter and buttermilk Recipe –
you will need –
- full fat cream or heavy cream – 1 liter
Place heavy cream in a chilled bowl and using a electric blender, whisk until it turns to whipped cream with stiff peaks but after a while, it will break down and separate the buttermilk and butter. Pour everything into a piece of muslin cloth and set over a colander. Save the buttermilk for later use. Pour ice cold water over the butter to wash off all the buttermilk and firm up with butter. Add salt if required and store the butter in the refrigerator.
Cream cheese Recipe –
you will need –
- 2 litres full fat milk
(Or fresh cream) - 3 – 4 tbsp lemon juice
Into a large heating pot, add in the full fat milk (or you could even use fresh cream). Then, turn on the heat and let the milk heat up on medium heat. Once the milk starts to boil, immediately add in the lemon juice and turn off the heat.
You will soon notice that the milk has broken and has started to curdle. If you do not find the milk curdling well enough, you can add in a little more lemon juice (around ½ to 1 tablespoon should suffice). Give it a stir and let it cool down completely. Next, you will have to place a muslin/cheesecloth onto a sieve and pour in the curdled milk to get rid of all the whey.
Next, transfer the curdled milk lumps into a food processer (or blender) and blend well until the mixture becomes creamy.
Tip: If you find that the texture of the cream cheese isn’t becoming creamy, then you can add in ½ to 1 tablespoon of the whey (even water will do) and then blend it. Transfer the freshly made cream cheese into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator.
You can watch the full video here –