Heat 2 liters of milk in a sauce pan on medium flame.

Keep stirring the milk, to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Once the milk boils, put off the flame.

Allow the milk to cool down for 5 minutes.

Mix juice of 2 lemons in 1/4 cup water. Now add this to the milk in 2-3 batches, while stirring the milk. (do not add all the lemon juice at one go)

The milk will curdle and we can see the greenish whey and the curdled milk clearly.

Line a colander with muslin cloth or cheese cloth. (You may use a thin cotton kitchen towel if you do not have muslin cloth)

Keep another vessel under the colander to collect the whey.

Now pour the curdled milk over the muslin cloth lined colander.

Gather the sides of the cloth and lift it. Do not discard the whey. (Whey is very rich in protein and it can be used to make baby purees, in dals and soups. I use it to knead my chapati or paratha dough. You can add the left-over whey to your potted plants)

Now take another vessel with clean water. Dip the cloth with the cheena into it twice or thrice, to remove the traces of lemon from the cheena.

If you want to make bengali dishes , like rasgulla or rasmalai or you wish to make dishes with crumbled paneer, you can use this cheena right away.

To make paneer cubes, we need to keep the cheena under pressure for some time.

For that, squeeze out as much whey as you can from the collected cheena. Now flatten the cheena with your palms, while it is in the cloth. Keep a plate above and beneath this cheena cloth and keep some weight over the top plate. (I have kept my marble chapati rolling board over it)

Leave the cheena under pressure for 30-35 minutes and not more than that. (The paneer will turn chewy and hard if you keep the paneer under pressure for long time)

Soft paneer block is ready to use. You can cut it into desired size and shape and use in curries, snack, rice dishes, stir fries etc.