Farming couple Julie and Roger Guise have developed a successful business producing paneer - a fresh cottage cheese popular in Indian cuisine.
The Guise's pastures provide fresh, high-quality milk which they make into paneer cheese under the MooDew label.
Moodew Paneer Photo: Julie Guise
Most paneer in Indian restaurants and sold fresh around the country is made with milk powder, but MooDew is the 'real deal' as it's made with fresh milk, Julie tells Kathryn Ryan.
Recipes:
The Guises have 500-odd cows at Aparima - about 25 minutes drive from the township of Riverton.
A few years ago, when some friends at church told them about not being able to get fresh paneer in New Zealand, the couple started experimenting with making it from their milk.
MooDew is the 'real' paneer, Julie says.
"I've had people literally physically jump up and down with excitement that they've actually got the real thing - it's not milk powder."
Paneer is simple to make but using good-quality, fresh milk is key, she says.
"We harvest the milk in the morning. By lunchtime, it's already in manufacture and it can be on our plate tomorrow in a restaurant. That's how fresh it is."
MooDew supply restaurants around the country and sell in outlets around the country. Early on, the Guises even had an enquiry from India about shipping paneer there once the business scales up.
You can find a couple more MooDew paneer recipes here.
Paneer chips with chilli mayo Photo: www.moodew.co.nz
Paneer Coconut Curry Photo: www.moodew.co.nz
