Dry large curd cottage cheese would be close if you wrap it in cheesecloth and press it for a few hours, but not the creamed. I made paneer once this summer and it came out not quite right. The temperature of the milk has to be very exact when you add the lemon juice, and I was just boiling it up. It tasted fine, but the texture was too crumbly - very cottage cheese like. A coworker of mine keeps volunteering his wife to teach me to make it, but she keeps demurring :).
A vegan coworker (he's a Jain) recommended using firm tofu instead of paneer, which sounds like a good substitute. I haven't tried it yet.
― Jaq (Jaq), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 00:15 (eighteen years ago) link