Journey to Paneer’s origin and variations

Posted by rajaram patil on June 12th, 2019

Ever imagined why India has the autochthonous cheese and the other Asian countries don’t? That’s because of a large number of cattle. So, we also get pure milk, ghee, lassi, cheese, etc. many other dairy products.

It was the Indus Valley Civilization when the milk was curdled with a variety of sour green leaves, berries, barks, and yogurt. Back to the time of Ancient Vedas, two types of cheese have been mentioned about- pored and without pores. The one without pores is what modern world refer to as Paneer.

About the Variations:

The paneer was introduced to North India in the 16th century by the Persian and Afghan rulers. The paneer is made from sheep or goat rennet. In fact, cheese is the predecessor of this modern Indian paneer. Want to know where the word Paneer came from? The word Paneer has come from the word Peynir and many times it is also spent as Panir. Peynir is the popular term for cheese in Persian and Turkish languages.

There is one more variant of Paneer known as Mughlai Paneer. Though, the Mughlai Paneer recently got popular in the rest of India. The paneer has also started appearing in many different regional forms. The same ingredient that the entire world knows as Paneer, the eastern India people refer it to as Chhana or Channar. It is prepared using drained curds and then is separated from the whey. Make sure you don’t use any pressure. This is the unsolid form of paneer.

There was a time when the Portuguese people had settled in Calcutta. The time was the seventeenth century.  When these people settled in Calcutta, they bought traditional fresh cheeses along with them. This further introduced the technique of curdling cow’s milk. Also, you will be shocked when I give this piece of information to you. The information is that Paneer is not only used for making Sabjis, or any spicy dishes, but also for making sweets. Yes, you read it right, Bengali people use Paneer to make Rasagolla. It is also used to make Paneer Jalebi.

Other varieties of Paneer include Dhakai Paneer. It is a specialty of Bangladesh and is salted and smoked. Also, the list consists of the Surti Paneer of Gujarat. This Surti Paneer is a version made by using buffalo milk. The process is steeping the curds for about 3 to 4 days in whey.

Author’s bio: The author of the article, being a hardcore Paneer fan, has studied in depth about the types of Paneer. He also has his own poultry farm in the village and also knows how to make Paneer. He also has a soft corner for cooking and so cooks on weekends.