The one disaster almost everybody who cooks has had to deal with is curdled milk. But the trick to prevent it from spoiling is simple says sous chef Bishan Singh Negi of Marriott. Ensure the milk container is well cleaned and while heating the milk, keep the temperature to a minimum. If you’re adding milk or cream to a soup then remember to do so right at the end. “Adding it while cooking the soup will cause it to curdle. Ensure there is minimum heat while pouring in the milk,” he says. But if despite it all if you do end up with curdled milk then don’t despair. Chef Negi shares some tips to put curdled milk to good use.
1. Paneer or cottage cheese is a great option when it comes to curdled milk. All you have to do is tie up the curdled milk in a muslin cloth and leave overnight to drain out the water. This paneer can now either be used as burji or the regular way.
2. If you want a firmer and thicker consistency of paneer, you can place a weight over the muslin cloth once the water has been drained out. This will squeeze out the remaining moisture.
3. Another option to use curdled milk is as chenna. A kind of Indian pudding, the sweet is rather popular in the North and a common base for most Bengali sweets. For chenna all you need to do is add sugar to the curdled milk (with a little more water content than when you’re making paneer) and cook it over a low flame. If this process is too tedious and time consuming, then you can bake it till the top and bottom are crisp and brown.
4. If the smell of milk puts you off, then you can try adding flavours like vanilla essence and rose water to enhance the taste of chenna.