Thursday, September 10, 2009

Activities Fair @ Columbia University




Hi,
Today we had the annual activities fair on campus, where all the clubs come together; set up tables to advertise and interact with students. We too had our table and it was a big hit. We served fresh fruits, candies and cookies to the students and also told them what exactly we do on campus. It was very windy outside and the flower vase we had on the table fell with all the water spilling on table, this somehow created a chaotic situation for a little while. But that is what art of living is all about to be unperturbed even in chaos.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

How to make PANEER - INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE

As a student in U.S, paneer (a kind of Indian Cheese) is not available in grocery stores. Here is a very easy protocol to make delicious paneer at home and then cook whatever u want with it.

1. Take half gallon of Stoniefiled Organic Whole milk. I like whole milk as the paneer comes out very nice, I have no idea what happens with reduced fat milk.
Ingredients
2. Empty the milk in a container and bring the milk to a boil, make sure u keep stirring it frequently as it may get stuck to the bottom of the pan, this will spoil the taste.

Milk Boiling

3. When the milk comes to a boil, slowly start adding white vinegar so that the milk curdles. Keep stirring it slowly. For 1/2 gallon 2 - 3 table spoon shld be enough. Do not add too much as it will make the paneer sour. The way I do it, is Iadd a little bit and stir the milk and see if panner comes out. if not add more.

4. After 1 or 2 min you will see the milk curdles and the paneer and water separate. Use a strainer to get rid of excess water. It will take around 1 hr to get rid of the water. Let the paneer be in the strainer for the whole time.
Curdled Paneer
5. Paneer is ready. This fresh paneer will be very fresh so it may break easily. What I do is if I have to cook paneer in the evening. I make it in afternoon or a night before and refrigerate it. So it is hard and easy to cut in cubes.
Paneer is ready

P.S : Shape the paneer --- Take the paneer out from strainer and wrap it in a muslin/cheese cloth. Put something heavy and flat on top of the paneer. I usually fill a cooker with water and use it as a weight. You can leave the weight overnight or 5 - 6 hrs. Once done you can make cubes out of it.

NOTE: The water you get from straining, is a good hair conditioner; so do not throw it. Once it cools down you can use it to wash hair.....