Afghan-Kishmish Panir (Cheese with Raisins)

Afghan-Kishmish Panir (Cheese with Raisins)

Ingredients:
1 gallon of milk
White vinegar
Cheesecloth
1 box black seedless raisinsa

How to cook:
In a large stockpot, add a small amount of water to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Add1 gallon of regular whole fat milk to the pot and bring to a boil. Stirring helps the bottom not to burn and the milk to boil faster. NEVER LEAVE UNATTENDED. As the milk begins to steam, take about 1/4 cup of white vinegar and put it next to the stove. When the milk starts to rise in the pan, add the vinegar in a circular pattern. Take the pan off of the heat. Take a slotted spoon and start helping the curds and whey separate (some people like to lightly salt the cheese, if you would like to, add two good pinches of salt at this point). After about 5 minutes you should have a good amount of separation. In the sink and over a colander, double fold a cheesecloth and press into the shape of the colander. Using thick, new kitchen gloves (the kind used for washing dishes), slowly pour the contents of the pot into the cheese cloth, when all of the curds are in the cheesecloth, gather the ends of the cheesecloth together and twist. The VERY hot whey will come out and shape the curds into a ball. Press to make it smooth and round. Twist and press two or three times only and the place the cheesecloth on a plate in the refrigerator. You do not want to twist too much or else the cheese will be crumbly. When the ball has cooled, take it out of the cheese cloth and wrap it in foil until you are ready to cut. Cut the cheese in slices down the ball so that you end up with thick slices, and then cut the slices into cubes. Fill half of the plate with cheese and place raisins on the other half of the plate and serve. The cheese can last 2-3 days, slightly longer if salt was added.