Parathas are the latest craze in our home. Soft pliable roti wrapping softer cheese leaves you with lingering taste of spices and creaminess.
I am not a fan of store brought paneer, but prefer the firmness of the cubes for kurmas. However, for parathas, you need soft cheese that will work with you as you knead the stuffing. Home made paneer is the best way to get soft cheese.
In making paneer, there were several attempts to reserve the white cloth I use for making paneer to ‘keep’ it as paneer cloth. Either, it will end as craft cloth for my kids, or even worse cleaning cloth for my maid. 🙁
I thought to give the paneer cloth an ‘identity’..also it should serve the purpose of filtering the whey water in a more elegant way.
Surukku pai/ string bag:
My grandma had this all the time, where she kept coins and her tobacco. The coins bearing a ‘signature’ smell that shall laugh at us with a jingle will make us plead her for buying candies. The ‘santa’s’ bag well tucked in my grandma’s Saree was my inspiration for this little diy project.
Cut a circular piece of white cloth, about 12 inch radius. Cut two inch wide strips of cloth on the bias , length should equal the perimeter of the circle. (Use your calculators 🙂 )
If you are joining multiple patches like me, make sure to cut the edges in a 45 degree angle and patch. Sew the both sides of the strip on the edge, run a chord inside the channel. The surukku pai/ cheese cloth bag is now ready.
Spread this over a strainer, pour in your curdled milk, pull the string, pour chill water over if you want to arrest the cooking, knead as you like, hang it wherever you like. Wash and reuse the bag as many times you want, it is all yours 🙂
Enjoy a diy time !
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