Topli na Panir

by Rita Jamshed Kapadia

Topli or Tokri means Basket in Indian Gujarati.

Topli na Panir (2 recipes with rennet) 

by Zavera J. Kanga (Moms’ Recipe)

By Rita Jamshed Kapadia

Recipe #1 (with rennet)

Makes 4 – 5

Ingredients

4 Cups Milk
2 tsp salt (optional for taste only, does not help in formation of panir)
2 Rennet Junket tablets

Method:
1. Warm the milk slightly, it should not be hot. (Hint put your finger in the warm milk it should be warm)

Put in the essence of rennet.

Wash and dry small paneer baskets.

At the bottom of each basket, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt, then pour curd mixture over, fill to the top of the basket.

Place the basket over a glass so that the water drains into it. Leave to form overnight or for 8 hours.

When cheese is firm and water is drained off, overturn the cheese out carefully.

Collect drained water from each glass add this whey into a large bowl.

Insert the cheese into it to store. You will see the basket indentations and if you like you can create designer paneer!

Recipe #2 (with rennet)

by Zavera J. Kanga (Moms’ Recipe)

Makes 3 – 4

1. Take 1 pint of good creamy milk. Use good milk.
2. Do not boil.
3. Put one tablet Rennet/Junket in one pint milk and make Dahi (yogurt) instantly within half an hour.
4. Wet the baskets and pour the dahi and keep a tray underneath so that the whey runs down.
5. Keep for an hour and then SLOWLY take it out from each basket and transfer to salty water (if you don’t like salty, plain water).
6. Try 3 or 4 at the first try with one pint of milk.

Topli na Paneer are small soft cheeses which are made in baskets (topli is gujarati word for basket, hence the name).

These paneers are kept in earthenware pots in their whey. In Surat which is reputed to have the finest topli na paneer, it is sold in pots door-to-door.

These are made from “Rennet” which is a package powder and found in Supermarkets.

Where to buy RENNET?

You can buy the rennet here:

Rennet for making Topli na Paneer

Recipe  (without rennet or lemon)

Ordinary Paneer

Cottage Cheese

Mattho

Makes 1 large paneer of 1 lb approx

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Liters milk
• 1 lb yogurt or curd
• 2 tsp salt

METHOD

1. Add the salt to the curd and mix it.
2. Bring the milk to a boil and add the above mixture and stir.
3. Keep it on the fire till the curd separates. Let it cool for a little while.
4. Put a thin muslin cloth in a sieve or strainer and pour the mixture into it. Cover it very lightly and let all the water drain out.
5. Cool and then serve.

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Topli Paneer (Parsi style fresh cheese)

Recipe (with lemon)

By Rita Jamshed Kapadia

Yield: 2 cups

INGREDIENTS

Whole Milk 1 quart
Lemon juice 1

METHOD

Basic Steps:

Curdle → Strain → Press and Form

1. Bring milk just to boil, and then remove from heat.
2. Stir in lemon juice and let set 10 minutes.
   This separates the curds and whey.
3. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer
   and squeeze out the excess whey.
4. Flatten into a square shape about 1/2″ thick in the cheesecloth.
5. Place between 2 plates, and weigh the top plate down
   with something heavy like canned goods.
6. Chill for 1 up to 8 hours to allow excess whey to be squeezed out.
7. Remove from cheesecloth and cut into squares to use in recipes.

Chill and serve. Paneer will stay for a week refrigerated.

Health Tip: This topli nu paneer is very good for digestion and is the most effective taken first thing in the morning as breakfast.