Sach Foods Organic Paneer, $7.99 for six ounces, sachfoods.com. Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

“Paneer needs an acid; otherwise, it’s super bland,” she said. A zippy mix of grated ginger and garlic and ground cayenne accomplishes this, while cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric add depth.

But I was trusting well-worn routines rather than relying on my gut. That is, until I decided to make paneer, a process that requires watching, waiting and — you guessed it — intuition.

Return paneer to pan; add 1½ tsp. mild curry powder and remaining 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil and cook, tossing constantly, until curry powder is evenly distributed and very fragrant, 1–2 minutes.

Typically in India, buffalo milk is used to make paneer—it has a higher fat content than cow’s milk and a richer flavor. If you can get your hands on whole buffalo milk, then do use it, but ...

As with making fresh ricotta, which shares some of the same steps, this process for making paneer works best if you're using whole milk. I've had success with 2 percent, but avoid skim or nonfat ...