Talk:Paneer/Archive 1

Nutrition : 265 g of carbs in 100g of paneer ?

This reflects the knowledge of nutritionists in India! This is not the first experience... Removing this data table. Data is blatantly wrong. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vwalvekar (talk • contribs) 06:10, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

I agree. The nutrition information about paneer seems really wrong and questionable. The whole web says that paneer is high in fats and protein, not in carbs. And Wikipedia claims it is high in carbs! Whom do we believe? - xpclient ^Talk 07:39, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

Dating the occurrence of paneer

The article says that paneer is mentioned in the vedas dating back to 6000BC. That cannot possibly be true. Vedas weren't even written back then. Even if paneer was known 8000 years ago, I doubt whether any veda, dubious for its ambiguous date references, makes for a good source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.131.103.196 (talk) 13:25, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Persia, not Portugal

This page previously contained:

Paneer was thought to have been introduced into India by the Portuguese in the late 16th century.

I have changed it to reflect the more general view that Paneer came to India from Persia or Afganistan. I can find two references for a middle eastern origin, one in The Oxford Companion to Food, and the other on the UN FAO web page (referenced in the article). I can find no references to a Portuguese introduction.Jberkus 05:29, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

I don't know where to include this information, or if it is considered pertinent by those other than myself. "Peynir" is the Turkish word for cheese. There is a specific cheese that is called simply "Peynir," which I believe is similar to or is actually "Paneer." Kingerik 18:44, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

(as a side note, Feta in Turkish is called "Beyaz Peynir" which translates to white cheese, but other cheeses, such as Haloum, isn't found with "Peynir" following the term.)

The wiki article for "rennet" states (without citation, but still) that only 35% of worldwide cheese is produced using animal rennet. This conflicts with the statement in this article that, "Unlike most cheeses in the world, the making of paneer does not involve rennet". If someone knows which fact is true, it would help both articles. 67.168.16.165 05:27, 23 February 2007 (UTC

The making of paneer does not involve rennet, which is made from calf's stomachs. Paneer is a vegetarian product. I do not know how much worldwide cheese production involves the use of (animal) rennet, but 35% seems very low to me. MrDemeanour (talk) 16:47, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

Overrated

Why are paneer dishes being overrated? Why is Paneer so popular, whereas its so dumb and tasteless... just because its a rich dish, it is being eaten and served with craze...--65.202.29.180 14:36, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

thats your opinion whereas you are a minority in believing that

Similar to Farmer Cheese or Queso Blanco

I disagree that Paneer is similar to Ricotta cheese. Ricotta is made from the fluid expressed during the creation of pressed cheeses. It also does not have the same texture as paneer. Mozzarella cheese made by the acidification process is similar, except that Mozzarella undergoes a kneading process. Farmer Cheese or Queso Blanco are closest, I believe, obviuosly with the exception of salt. I admit this is "original research" on my part, but I think the comparison with ricotta doesn't stand up. If anyone has any verifiable sources to settle this, it would be appreciated. --BostonMA

After searching the web, I see that Paneer is often called India Farmer's cheese, so I will make it so in this article. I also note that Bengali recipe calls for kneeding the paneer, and so I will mention the similarity with fresh Mozzarella made via the acidification process. --BostonMA 00:20, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 19:03, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Similar to mozzarella and queso blanco?

What is this about paneer being similar to acid-set mozzarella? As far as I understand, mozzarella is a rennet-set cheese, not an acid-set cheese. Sometimes acid is added to mozzarella, but all the recipes I have heard of use rennet or a microbial equivalent. Mozzarella is quite different to paneer, in that it is kneaded and fibrous in texture (see pasta filata), traditionally rennet-set, and it melts. Queso blanco appears to refer to several different cheeses, but according to [1] and [2], it is more similar to Monterey Jack and is a melting cheese. Perhaps what is meant here is queso fresco blanco? [3] Dforest (talk) 05:26, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

As nearly a month has gone by without comment, I have removed the references to mozzarella, except for the comparison to the Bengali kneaded version of paneer, which seems accurate. Dforest (talk) 04:44, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Whose milk?

Is paneer made from cow's milk only, or is it also made from other regional milks (goat, sheep, camel, water buffalo, yak...)? --Haruo (talk) 00:52, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

-- it can be made from any milk. Commercially, buffalo milk is preferred for paneer while cow milk is preferred for chhena. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bigaddie (talk • contribs) 06:56, 11 September 2016 (UTC)

In The Netherlands (at least at my local organic supermarket) they sell cow-paneer and goat-paneer. I have no idea if goat-paneer is traditionally indian. 84.245.20.50 (talk) 17:48, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

"The farmer cheese sold in Western countries"

Its not sold in the UK. I've never heard of that name before, and I've never seen anything like the cheese in theillustration before, unmless its the factory made "American" cheese which nobody likes. Please Americans, please stop assuming that other "western" countries are just extensions of the USA but with different accents or languages.

And when you use the expression "western" that means western as in Cowboys And Indians to european ears. 92.29.116.34 (talk) 22:46, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia and Jimbo think that http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WeAllLiveInAmerica Could you tell why America is the only country mentioned in alternatives section, when there are over 150 countries in the world? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.248.163.1 (talk) 13:17, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Discussion of word "paneer"

Just like the wiki page on the word "naan", I think this page should include a brief description of what the word "paneer" means in Iran. It is my understanding that paneer in Persian is a generic word for all cheeses. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Juche2000 (talk • contribs) 18:17, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Fried Paneer

My first time editing Wikipedia, so if I make any etiquette errors, please forgive me.

I am ethnically Panjabi which is a region in Northern India where paneer has traditionally been more widely used in the cuisine than many other parts of India (it's all changed now ofcourse).

The one aspect of paneer that I don't think has been mentioned is frying. My family, back three generations at least, and other Panjabi people I know have always used semi deep fried paneer in some dishes: Rasa-Matter-Paneer and saag-paneer being two examples. From my own limited experience, this makes it either relatively or completely unique. I know Haloomi can be fried without completely melting, but it does get softer inside, whereas Paneer does not. It is for this reason that Panjabi paneer cannot be compared to Ricotta. Genuine, well made paneer is neither bland nor tasteless. When made with good quality Indian-milk (as opposed to some of the adulterated and reconstituted stuff that is available today), both the taste and texture is unique especially when compared to paneer made from milk in other countries. For example, in Australia, I have tried making paneer from many different types of milk, with varying results, and none of them have the slight squeak that identifies the genuine stuff when you bite into it. I have also tried frozen paneer from Canada. It was bland, and crumbly. Readers outside of India may have had good or bad experiences when trying paneer in resteraunts or in peoples homes, but the most authentic paneer I have managed to find outside of India is a frozen brand called 'Amul'. The cubes are a little on the small size, but if you try frying them gently until they are golden brown on the outside and then using them in the 'curry' dish of your choice, at least you can say you tried the genuine product.

One other thing I would like to remind readers, is that India is a large country with greatly varying culture and cuisine. To say something is "traditionally Indian" is a little misleading as something that is traditional to a Panjabi may be completely unknown to someone from a neighbouring state. I myself, have learnt some things about paneer in this article. Thank you to the author. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Reiner66 (talk • contribs) 05:02, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Palak Paneer vs Saag Paneer

Aren't these the same dish? Both appear in the list in this article of dishes incorporating paneer. 135.23.189.197 (talk) 12:45, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Firstly, sorry if I edit this page incorrectly. I am trying to respond to the query regarding palak paneer vs saag paneer. In my panjabi family 'palak' refers to what in Australia we call 'English spinach'. However 'saag' refers to a pureed dish made with a green leafy vegetable with small yellow flowers and small amount of cornmeal and ghee. Sometimes we use palak and sometimes a combination of palak and saag. I think Indian restaurants would probably use whatever word is most commonly used in that region of the world, but in my experience few restaurants use the cornmeal or the ghee. The cornmeal has to be cooked for a very long time and stirred continuously otherwise it is gritty rather that the desired creamy. texture. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Reiner66 (talk • contribs) 07:15, 28 January 2016 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Paneer/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

will someone tell me what the nutritional value and the no. of calories of paneer? nowadays paneer foods have increased. is it nutritionally good ?123.176.36.93 (talk) 13:54, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Last edited at 13:54, 3 September 2008 (UTC). Substituted at 02:13, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Nutritional value per 183 g !?

"Nutritional value per 183 g"? Per 183g!? Seriously? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.35.239.62 (talk) 10:47, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

I agree. The entire nutrition information about paneer should be removed because it is uncited and has no proper multiple reliable sources. In general, the internet has mentioned paneer as being high in fat and protein, but not in carbs. And Wikipedia claims it is high in carbohyrates! I wish we had more reliable and accurate information. - xpclient ^Talk 07:39, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

"Queso blanco or queso fresco are often recommended as substitutes"

I noticed the "Similar cheeses" section ends with this information. Both "Queso blanco" and "queso fresco" are links and they redirect to the "Queso blanco" article. That article differentiates those two cheeses, but I don't think there's a point to having them as 2 separate links in such close proximity when they both link to the same page. Personally I think it makes the most sense to just remove the hyperlink from "queso fresco" altogether. Still, I don't know enough about Wikipedia's rules to remove it myself, so I'll leave that up to someone else who knows more than me and sees this note. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rjbranch (talk • contribs) 15:19, 27 November 2017 (UTC)

Cottage cheese

I have made a couple of edits to try to remove misleading information. Firstly, cottage cheese is curdled with a culture. Paneer is not - it is curdled using a vegetable acid. This is important, because paneer is compatible with yogic diets; using a culture makes a foodstuff 'rotten', and incompatible (you can't use vinegar, because that is wine that has 'gone off').

Paneer also doesn't resemble cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is wet and lumpy, and cannot be cut into cubes. It is either spread, or eaten with a spoon (you could just about eat it with a fork, at a pinch). Paneer has a smooth (not lumpy) texture, and is meant to be cut into cubes; it comes as a more-or-less rubbery block, with a consistency something like gruyere.

Paneer can be fried; it will then take on a brown crust (and that is how it is typically prepared). Cottage cheese cannot be fried; that would be like trying to fry yoghurt.

The term 'farmer's cheese' was also used. Farmer's cheese is an american product; I suspect that is where this business about vegetarian rennet comes from, because Farmer's cheese is apparently curdled using rennet. But paneer is a foodstuff that is permitted for vegetarians; it is not made with rennet. Furthermore it has traditionally been made in simple homes, and does not depend on modern ingredients made specially for western vegetarians, such as vegetarian rennet.

I have left some of these references to farmer's cheese and cottage cheese, but I have deleted the most egregious examples. If nobody objects, I will come back another day and try to remove the remaining examples. MrDemeanour (talk) 16:31, 10 August 2018 (UTC)