Makes 300g
2L fresh full fat milk
2 lemons
Paneer is Indian cheese, it's made from boiled milk and always used fresh so there's no need to be quite so anal about sterilising all your equipment as with other dairy recipes :) It's incredibly simple to make, the only thing you might not have is some cheese cloth, but you can buy that cheaply from any fabric shop.
To make the paneer, put the milk into a large, heavy-bottom saucepan and heat until it starts to boil. You need a large saucepan because as soon as it boils, it will froth up everywhere and escape from a small saucepan. Once the milk has boiled, turn down the heat and add the juice of the lemons and stir well. The lemon juice acidifies the milk and makes the proteins coagulate (to make curds), which leaves the rest of the liquid a slightly yellow-green colour (the whey - the colour is due to the Riboflavin, vitamin B2). The effects should be pretty immediate, but keep stirring for five minutes to make sure that all the curds form.
Now take the pan off the heat and pour gently into a sieve lined with cheese cloth, in the sink. The curds will stay in the cloth while the whey drains out. Hang the curds in the cheese cloth over the sink for about an hour, for the rest of the liquid to drain out, and then it's ready for use - it won't keep though, so use it the same day.
If you're looking for something to use it in, try the fantastic malai kofte recipe.