[Sca-cooks] Deep fried paneer

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Stefan li Rous:
>Madhavi commented:
>>Mattar paneer is also most wonderful...  it's fresh green peas cooked with
>>tomatoes and spices and lots of onions then tossed with deep fried cubes of
>>paneer. It's one of my favorite modern Indian dishes.
>
>Deep fried? As in tossing cubes of this soft cheese into a pot of hot
>oil? Don't you just end up with a mass of molten/sticky cheese? You aren't
>coating the cheese in anything like breading, correct? Is the oil hot
>enough the the cheese creates a crust before it all oozes away when you
>try to scoop it out?

Panir doesn't really melt, not really. Neither does fresh queso
blanco, AFAIK, and for the same reason. The curds are like a network
of long protein molecules (casein, I think) containing water, sugars,
fat, and such, rather like a sponge. As the cheese ages, bacteria
create (among other things) enzymes that break down the casein,
making the cheese much more dependent on firm, chilled butterfat for
its structure. When you heat up the [aged] cheese, most of what is
holding it in shape becomes a liquid, and the cheese melts.

Panir behaves somewhat like tofu: it fries to a firm consistency, but
the pieces love to stick together.

Adamantius
--
"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
deserves to be called a scholar."
	-DONALD FOSTER