Then I’ll admit to be a tentacular monster. And might as well share my “Levantine” spice mix for other monsters here:
- 5 parts smoked paprika
- 5 parts black pepper
- 5 parts cinnamon
- 4 parts coriander seeds
- 4 parts cumin
- 3 parts allspice
- 3 parts cloves
- 2 parts cardamom
- 2 parts star anise
- 2 parts chili pepper
- 1 part nutmeg
Just blend them all together and store in an airtight container. This stuff is amazing in meats, specially beef.













Add some fruit juice to it, and sugar to taste. IMO it’s delicious. (Note: this works better with sour fruits. Lemon, orange, passion fruit, cashew, pineapple, this sort of stuff.)
It’s possible what you made is paneer.
At least traditionally, ricotta is the one made from leftover whey; that’s why it gets this name (ricotto = recooked). You make some low temp cheese like pecorino, re-heat the leftover whey to ~80°C, add some white vinegar (and probably salt), transfer the curds outside of the liquid and here you go.