I want to just toss it into some indian food I have. Does it need to be cooked first or is it ok if it just warms up a bit when I throw it in the sauce?
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Paneer can be used as is. Sometimes it is fried to extend shelf life. Cooks will also sometimes fry paneer until it is slightly brown and then put the fried cubes of paneer in hot water for a few minutes. This makes paneer very soft. If you do cook paneer, it will not melt, like most other cheese varieties, because it's an acid-set cheese. |
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It does not have to be cooked. It's cheese! |
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well ia m indian so let me tell you this : in traditional north indian cooking (and this is where paneer is widely used) paneer is almost always cooked. Yes no prblem with not cooking it; but paneer uncooked is not a good dish. It is a more dry and stingy (for lack of a better word) cheese. so you see paneer or cottage cheese is best served cooked and well seasoned. That is where the real magic of cheese lies! P.S. Google "paneer pakoda" . this is a unique dish which will show you the versatility of the item. |
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I didnt think paneer melts. You can boil it and boil it in a curry and it still maintains its shape. But you can eat it raw! :-) |
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It could be eaten raw, but is generally heated or cooked. Personally, I find that pouring piping hot sauce over room-temperature paneer cubes works wonders for delicate sauce-based dishes, while cooking them gives best results and texture in dryer style dishes. I have only used fresh homemade paneer, so I am not sure if differences in taste or texture with the store-bought stuff would yield different recommendations. |
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It's better not to cook more than five to 10 minutes, otherwise ,it becomes harder. To retain the softness of paneer its added in the last (for some dishes) and cooked for another five minutes. |
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