Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese as we all know is a fresh mild cheese with a subtle flavour of its own. While making the cheese the curd is drained but not pressed so that some whey remains and the cheese retains its moisture.
The curd is generally washed to remove the acidity and leave a sweet taste. Cottage cheese can be made from different types of milk and with different fat content. The term cottage cheese is believed to have originated as this cheese was generally made in cottages from the left over milk after making butter.
Cottage cheese like the any other cheese can be eaten raw or can be cooked in various ways to make it more appealing and flavourful as per ones choice.
Some people found the taste of cottage cheese a bit bland so it is always good to cut the cottage cheese into smaller size or cubes so that the seasoning and curry can season it well and enhance its taste.
Nutritional aspect
Cottage cheese is surprisingly healthy. A 100gm serving of cottage cheese contains only 98 calories and 4gm of fat of which 1.7gm is saturated. Also it contains 3.4 gm of carbohydrates and 364 mg of sodium. This is a popular food among the athletes and body builders due to its low fat, low calorie and low carbohydrate content. Cottage cheese is a good source of proteins with 11gm of protein in a 100gm serving.
Storage
You can store cottage cheese dipped in water for 2 days in refrigerator or can store the frozen cottage cheese as per the packaging shelf life guidelines.
Homemade cottage cheese
You can make fresh cottage cheese at home by curding hot milk with vinegar or lemon juice and stringing the curd through muslin cloth and keeping it hanged or under some heavy object to press the cheese so that it forms into a single mass.
Angoori Cottage Cheese
As we all know that cottage cheese has a very subtle and mild flavour, so I decided to flavour and colour it not only once but thrice so that it is attractive to the eyes and also imparts three different flavours in a single dish.
So I used three types of grapes to marinate the cottage cheese and make a dish that is unique and easily cooked.
Serves 2
Ingredients
Cottage cheese 600 gm
Hung curd 150 gm
Ginger paste 2 tbsp
Garlic paste 1 ½ tbsp
Onion seeds 2 tsp
Gram flour 3 tbsp
Butter 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Yellow chili powder ½ tsp
Coriander powder ½ tsp
Tomato taste 2 tbsp
Kashmiri chili powder 1 tsp
Red grapes 100 gm
Ghee 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish
Onion rings to garnish
Lemon wedge to garnish
Lemon juice 2 tbsp
Chat masala ½ tsp
Method
Cut the cottage cheese into 3 inch round barrels and make three slits evenly spaced for the grape chutney.
In a separate bowl combine roasted gram flour, hung curd, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, salt and cream to make a smooth mixture.
Divide this marinade into two parts and add yellow chili and turmeric in one and tomato paste and Kashmiri chili in another, keep them aside.
For the grape chutney marinade, heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan and add onion seeds to it.
Sauté and add roughly chopped grapes and cook over slow flame till the mixture is reduce to sauce consistency.
In each slit of cottage cheese barrel slide in some grape chutney, yellow marinade and the red marinade.
Skewer the cottage cheese barrels in tandoor or oven basting with melted butter to keep the cottage cheese moist.
Serve hot, sprinkled with chat masala and garnished with onion rings, lemon wedge.
Cooking tip of the week
While cooking the cottage cheese always remember that it is a cheese that can be eaten raw also, so do not overcook it otherwise the proteins in the cheese will coagulate and make it chewy and difficult to digest. While making cottage cheese curry add cottage cheese only when the curry is almost ready in the end and bring it to boil once and then remove from flame for a better tasting and soft cottage cheese.
