Have you ever tried special Indian or Pakistani foods? If yes, then you might be very familiar with what paneer is? Paneer is incredibly popular in South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, etc.
Paneer is an Indian cottage cheese known as non-melting farmer cheese prepared through cow’s milk. It can be made curd cheese cooked by curdling lime juice, vinegar, and some food acids.
Is Eating Paneer Good for Health?
The benefits of having paneer in your diet are, it helps in bodybuilding, boosts weight loss, improves body metabolism, maintains blood sugar levels, reduces body and joint pains, improves the immune system, prevents cancer, and many more.
Paneer is a vital source of nutrients and beneficial for vegetarians as they do not get their protein intake from rich-protein products like meat. It contains potassium, which helps deal with memory loss and selenium, which is useful in infertility treatments. It also contains calcium, which makes our teeth and bones stronger.
Side-Effects of Paneer
There are some side effects of paneer as well. Low-quality paneer can cause food poisoning, skin allergies, diarrhea, and other such complications. Consuming it daily without doing some exercise can be harmful to heart patients because it increases cholesterol levels. People who are allergic to dairy products should not take it or any other form of cheese in their diet.
How to Defrost Frozen Paneer?
Following is a step-by-step procedure to defrost a block of frozen paneer:
1. Immerse in Warm Water:
Take a large bowl and put water in it. Make it mild hot either by heating it on the stove or in a microwave oven. Bring the frozen piece of paneer from the refrigerator and put it in the bowl containing warm water.
Make sure to put the paneer in a zip-lock plastic bag so that it does not absorb water, and you don’t need to drain the water from paneer. This will make paneer easy to cut into pieces or shredded.
One thing that should be taken care of is to put the piece of paneer entirely into the water such that its surface is beneath the water. Let it be there for not more than 5 mins; otherwise, it will become too soft and spongy. While cooking, it will become rubbery.
2. Frying it in Oil/Ghee
Put some oil and ghee in a non-frying pan under medium to high flame. Ghee will help make the paneer non-sticky with the pan. Let it be mild hot before adding paneer in it. After the oil gets hot, put the slices of paneer cubes in the pan and shake it.
Make sure the oil is evenly spread over the pan; otherwise, paneer will stick with it. Let it shake on the pan until the color of the paneer turns golden brown. This will take 2-3 mins.
3. Putting Fried Paneer in Boiling Water
The last step before adding paneer in your recipe is to put the fried paneer in boiling water. This will make it soft and add moisture, which was lost while frying it in the pan. Take it out after 1-2 mins; otherwise, it will become too soft and sticky. It will not make your recipe according to your desire and taste.
Uses of Paneer:
Paneer can be used in a variety of dishes. Palak paneer is a traditional dish that is frequently consumed in India and Pakistan. Others include paneer with spinach, Shahi paneer, curry with cauliflower, potatoes, and paneer, paneer tikka masala, and much more. Rasgulla is the most famous sweet dish made of chhena (a moist form of paneer).
We hope this article helped you in finding a method to thaw frozen paneer.
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