Heat full-fat milk to a simmer, slowly add lime juice, lower heat, more lime juice, stir till all the curds separate from the whey. Strain using a muslin cloth, blend with salt, green chillies, pinch of garlic and onion powder till it turns into homemade spicy cream cheese
The whey - add a pinch of jeera powder and black salt (or curry leaves, asafoetida and salt) for a super refreshing high protein drink
More Cream cheese variants. Blend
1. Curds + salt: Plain cream cheese (you can make cheesecake with this)
2. Curds + lime zest + roasted poppy seeds
3. Curds + dark chocolate + ginger
4. Curds + bacon + spring onion
5. Curds + chaat masala + mint + coriander: Chaat cream cheese
1. Curds + salt: Plain cream cheese (you can make cheesecake with this)
2. Curds + lime zest + roasted poppy seeds
3. Curds + dark chocolate + ginger
4. Curds + bacon + spring onion
5. Curds + chaat masala + mint + coriander: Chaat cream cheese
If you don't have the patience to sit and curdle milk with acid, you can buy paneer and just blend it with salt and other flavours with a little bit of yoghurt to get a pretty decent cream cheese (it'll still be better than the ones we get in India)
If you use fresh cream instead of full-fat milk, add lime juice, and you keep the simmer going for longer and keep stirring it constantly, and then strain it with a cheesecloth in a fridge for 24 hours, you get Mascarpone cheese, which is used when making Tiramisu
For those trying this out, start with these ratios - 500 ml milk and 2 tbsp lime juice. Wait for the milk to reach 95C before adding the lime juice and do it gradually, not all at once.
