Day 1 - Paneer:
Special equipment:
Large, tall pot (the kind one boils corn in) and a strainer lined with a wet cheesecloth or other porous cloth. Much to Maji's dismay, I used an old, threadworn undershirt remnant. (Well, it was clean.)
Ingredients: 1 gallon whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup lemon juice (or so, more is better than less for a good reaction)

Have the lemon juice and the strainer lined with a wet cheesecloth ready and waiting. It takes the milk some time to boil, but when it does, one needs to be able to react instantly. Watch constantly!

Bring whole milk and cream to a boil in a large pot. This seems to take forever and then all of a sudden the milk will start frothing up. Immediately turn off the heat and dump the lemon juice in. The milk should curdle instantaneously (hopefully into large, pea sized curds). Stir to get as much of the milk bubbles curdled as possible.

Pour carefully into the strainer. Allow the curds to drain. Once the whey just seeps out in slow drips and the curds have formed a soft lump, lift the cheesecloth of curds over to a slanted board. Flatten the curds (still in the cheesecloth) into an approximately one inch thick disk. Cover with a plate. Weight the plate down with a large pot full of water, or anything heavy. Let drain for a few hours. Carefully open up the cheesecloth and deposit the cheese (now a rather firm disk). Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Day 2: Making the Curry (soup base) - to save time, I've grouped things by steps.

Assemble all these spices on a plate and set aside.
Masalas:
1 tea. salt
1 tea. cumin powder
1 tble ground coriander powder
1 tea. ground red pepper(sissy alert-cut down or eliminate to taste)
1 tea. garam masala (if not available from Ind. Grocer, increase cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and add some allspice, nutmeg and black pepper)
1/2 tea. turmeric
5 - 10 cardamoms, split (or 1/2 tea. ground Carmon)
1 cinnamon stick, broken into many pieces (or 1/2 to 1 tea. ground cinnamon)
10 -15 cloves (or 1/2 tea. ground cloves)
2 or 3 bay leaves, crumbled into large pieces

1/4 cup cooking oil (less if you are willing to constantly stir the onions)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic
1" or so of fresh ginger, finely sliced into matchsticks
Heat oil in a large pot (spaghetti sauce size) to a med. Heat. Throw in the onions and saut� until golden. While the onions are frying, cut up the garlic and ginger. When the onions are golden, throw in the ginger and garlic. Fry those until the garlic is a light gold (1 or 2 min. tops)

1 large tomato, chopped
1 large tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 bag frozen peas
These can probably be prepared as the onions are browning.

As soon as the garlic turns a light gold, dump in all the masalas and stir until completely mixed with the onion mix. Then add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir until thoroughly mixed and the oil and juice are seeping out (a min. or two). Add the frozen peas, stir well into the mix for another min. or two. Add 2 or 3 cups of water (should be as wet as Campbell's Veg. Soup). Simmer at a very low heat while the cheese is being fried.

Preparing the Cheese Cubes:
Fill a large bowl or pot with warm water. Set aside. Fill a med. or small frying pan with 2" of oil. Heat to med. or med. hot

Cut the disc of cheese into one inch cubes. (I usually cut mine on the diagonal, making lovely little diamond shapes) The cheese is sticky. Clean the knife after each cut and smear the clean knife with a bit of oil before each cut. Drop a small crumb of cheese into the hot oil. The oil is ready when the crumb immediately rises to the surface of the oil and browns quickly.

Fry a few of the cubes at a time to a pale brown (they brown quickly). Lift from the oil with a slotted spoon and drop into the warm water. This will allow the cheese to remain soft, rather than get rubbery and also increase the absorbency of curry liquid into it (just as a wet sponge sucks up water more efficiently than a dry one).

Once all the cheese cubes have been fried, use the slotted spoon to transfer them from the warm water to the curry. Simmer gently for 20 - 30 min. Turn off and let 'mellow' for a few hours. Like almost all of the 'wet' Indian dishes, this is even better the second day than the first.