- Hi, I'm Beryl
and in today's video, you guys asked for it,
we are doing Paneer.
And some of you might be like,
oh, Saag Paneer! No.
We're talking about the paneer, the cheese,
the beautiful, oh, my God, paneer.
My mother-in-law is in the video
and she's going to teach you all how to make it.
Thanks mom! (laughs)
Before we get started, two things.
Number one,
we have another collaborative video like the ramen video,
but this time I thought let's go grocery shopping
around the world together.
I have a link right below
that gives you all of the information that you need
if you wanna be a part of the video.
Number two, the March playlist with all of the music
that you guys are recommending to me is out.
So, we can all again, travel the world with our ears,
volume two.
And number three, the artist for today is my old coworker,
Chelsea Alexander.
She is an amazing, amazing illustrator.
- [Beryl] And I was so excited
to have her be a part of the video.
I'm leaving a link so you can check out her other work
and her Etsy shop.
Okay, scene change. (claps)
Now, you might be thinking something like...
- Isn't paneer just like normal cheese?
- But the answer is, no, it's not.
Come here.
- [Beryl] You stay.
- Hmph.
(upbeat piano music continues)
- It's not easy to describe.
When I try to tell my friends here what paneer is,
I generally say cottage cheese
but it's not like regular cheese.
- It's not a cheese, 'cause I know a lot of West,
the Western world kind of calls it cheese.
- Paneer, I would say is technically a cheese
because it's made of milk and it's solid
but it's not really a cheese that you put on bread
like cheddar or Monterey Jack.
It's more like an item that goes in curries
and other Indian dishes.
- In Western cultures, you eat like,
you know how your father eats like cheese
and bread on the side.
- Yeah. You wouldn't eat paneer
like on it's own.
- Paneer can actually morph itself into anything
ranging from savory, all the way to sweet.
- It takes on any flavor that you want,
so it doesn't matter what you put in it,
as long as that flavor tastes good,
it's gonna soak into this beautiful, soft cheese
and create something amazing.
- There's a misconception
that paneer is like a meat substitute
but I wouldn't say it is.
I think meat eaters and vegetarians
like in India, like paneer.
- Paneer is one of my favorite foods.
- Whenever I eat paneer, it's always gonna be a good day.
- It is literally the one vegetarian thing
that I really, really looked forward to.
- So, I think it's time to make it.
It's super, super simple.
The only thing that you might have trouble finding
is cheese cloth.
And if you don't wanna buy it,
you can honestly use pantyhose.
I'm gonna give the floor to my mother-in-law.
We did the call over WhatsApp,
so it's a little bit echoey but I think that it's okay.
Everybody, please say hello to my mother-in-law. (laughs)
- Hi everybody!
(speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat instrumental string music)
(mother-in-law speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat instrumental string music continues)
(mother-in-law speaking in foreign language)
(liquid splashing)
(liquid dripping)
- [Beryl] Whew!
(mother-in-law speaking in foreign language)
(water running)
(mother-in-law speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat instrumental string music continues)
(mother-in-law speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat instrumental string music continues)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Here's a little something extra.
When you're making paneer,
the milk is gonna become the curds,
which is the cheese and the whey.
The whey is full of proteins and nutrients
and it's really good for you.
And you shouldn't necessarily just toss it down the drain.
And if you're like, but then Beryl, what do I do with it?
I got you.
(old-time music)
I'm green screened!
Here are five things that you can do
with the extra whey water
that don't involve being a bodybuilder.
Number one, you can use it to make bread.
Number two, you can use it to boil pasta, make rice,
all those things.
Number three, use it in your baking!
Number four, rinse your hair with it.
The protein in the whey is good for your hair!
Number five, give it to your dog or cat in their meal.
(Beryl laughs)
(Beryl's footsteps trail off)
Ta-da!
- [Beryl] My paneer is ready.
The question is, what are we going to make with this?
Last night at like 1:00 AM I wrote this song
and we're gonna do it.
♪ Come with me and you'll be ♪
♪ In a world of paneer-based iteration ♪
♪ Just one look, you'll be hooked ♪
♪ And succumb to its temptations (laughs) ♪
Maybe I should cut that, I don't know. (laughs)
I asked you all what some of your favorites were
to inspire us, you know?
- I am paneer obsessed,
so obviously I just don't have one favorite.
I love Butter Paneer, I love Paneer Chutney,
Paneer Biriyani, all of them.
- Shahi Paneer Pizza from Bombay Pizza House
in Fremont, California.
If you're ever here in Fremont, California,
you need to try the Shahi Paneer pizza
at Bombay Pizza House.
- My favorite paneer dish is Shaam Savera.
The curry is very similar to a Tikka curry
but the paneer is stuffed inside of a spinach meatball.
- Pizza is amazing, but paneer and pizza,
it's just mind blowing and you need to try it.
- My favorite way to eat paneer is in Matar Paneer,
which is paneer and peas in like a curry based sauce.
- A local delicacy from Kolkata,
which is known as Roshogolla or Rasgulla.
- My favorite paneer dish is, Palak Paneer
or you would say spinach and paneer.
I just love the creaminess of the spinach
since my mom mixes really well,
and she puts like onions and tomatoes.
- It has to be the way my mom makes it.
She fries the paneer on one side
before she puts it into the gravy.
It's just got a nice crunch and bite to it.
Even when the rest of it is like super soft
and melt in your mouth and just crumbles.
- My most favorite way of eating paneer
is to make a simple Paneer Bhurji out of it.
A Bhurji is essentially a scramble.
The same way you would make like a tofu scramble
or an egg scramble but the Indian way of course
(speaking in foreign language)
- I think we're going to go with Paneer Bhurji
because it's super, super easy. (laughs)
And also it makes a really great street toast
that I want to have.
Okay, that's what we're going to do.
(upbeat music)
- [Beryl] I'm making this recipe
using only Kitchen King as the spice blend,
but I'm going to leave a link
to a more authentic version below.
We're going to start with onions.
Every Indian dish, honestly, I think starts with onions.
We're going to cut up some tomatoes,
and I, personally, like adding bell pepper.
So, I'm adding some bell pepper.
You want to crumble the paneer.
When you make it from scratch
it's quite easy to crumble up, honestly.
(upbeat music continues)
In the pan,
you want to start to post some cumin seeds.
If you don't have any cumin seeds, don't stress about that.
You're going to cook down the onions
and you need to cook them down longer than you think.
Add some ginger garlic paste, add the tomatoes and peppers
and you want this to get very, very soft.
(food sizzling)
I'm doing the shortcut
and I'm just cooking with kitchen King.
You can totally get by with just this one spice blend.
It has everything in it.
I'm also adding some turmeric because I like the color.
Stir all of that in, add the paneer
and honestly, you're done.
I'm just doing a taste test, little more spice.
Adding some lemon 'cause I like it a little sour.
And how is it?
Oh yeah, that's good.
There we go, it's done.
Now, I'm going to make the street toast version though.
Two pieces of bread, a little bit of butter.
And I'm going to put the Paneer Bhurji on the inside
and sandwich it up.
And if now you're like, wait,
where did this Panini press come from?
I bought it for this video
'cause I really wanted it to look like
the street toast that I would see in India.
(Beryl laughs)
I was very excited to use it, oh my goo!
I'm doing the diagonal cut.
You guys hate it when I cut it down the center
and here's the cross section.
Beautiful color.
I mean, it's going to be amazing.
Yay!
- I already know that this is amazing
because it smells amazing.
Oh, my God.
(laughing) I almost forgot, oh, my God, I swear to God.
♪ Just a little bit! ♪
♪ La-La-La-La, la, la-la ♪
(instrumental music playing)
Oh, yeah.
This is so dang good.
I'm pretty sure that making it on a panini press
made it like 10 times better.
(instrumental music continues)
I really can't stress enough
how simple this dish is to make.
Honestly, I think that it took me about 17 minutes
from start to finish.
And most of that time,
the majority of that time is waiting on the onions.
Honestly, it's just waiting on those onions to cook down.
If you're somebody who's interested
in trying out Indian cooking,
I really think that this is an amazing entry point
because you kind of can't mess up.
This dish, also just as an aside, you can make it with eggs.
You can very easily make this with tofu.
So, you know, it's got of applications outside of paneer.
I do really like making it with tofu, it's really good.
So, I did the math on this.
The paneer cost me about $4 to make
and it netted me out almost 15 ounces of paneer.
If you go to an Indian grocery store
you can buy it for about $6.
So, is it worth it?
I don't know, but like maybe you don't have access
to an Indian grocery store.
And also, you know homemade does taste better.
But I did want to let you know I did some math.
(instrumental music continues)
Paneer is one of those ingredients that really,
almost everybody likes.
And that cultural importance of it
is something that I asked everybody about,
how they felt about it.
(speaking in foreign language)
- I'm South Indian,
and paneer is not part of our traditional cuisine
but I think that's the beauty of immigrant culture.
I live in the Bay area,
it's a place with a lot of immigrants
and we really learn from each other
and from the different types of cuisines.
And I think we formed a kind of Pan-Indian pan,
Pan-South Asian identity, which is really beautiful,
and paneer is a big part of that.
- I think now, it's widespread in India
and my family eats paneer.
My mom taught me to make it, and we love paneer.
- It's a part of Indian vegetarian cuisine
and it's mostly used in vegetarian dishes
but everyone eats it because it is so awesome.
And everyone in India has one favorite paneer dish.
- I was a vegetarian growing up, when I was a child.
Anytime anyone asked me what my favorite vegetable was
I would say paneer.
(laughs)
And I think a lot of Indian children growing up,
said the same.
- I've been having it since I was four years old.
I think Paneer is a really proud part of our Indian culture,
Indian cooking.
I have not learned how to make paneer,
but I will hope to do soon.
- Overall, paneer is joy and you have to try it.
- We are all here because food has become the fulcrum
of social interactions.
The more you try, the more you share
and sharing is what Beryl's channel is all about, you guys.
So, please go ahead and try paneer.
- Go paneer! (laughs)
- This video might have gone a little off the rails.
Maybe you only wanted a simple recipe
and you were like, what is this whole video?
But I feel like getting a full picture view of a food
is a really big part of learning to like it
and learning to appreciate it.
So, I hope that you enjoyed this
and I really hope that you try to make it yourself
if you have never done it because it's easy
and it's delicious and everybody loves paneer.
Mostly everybody.
(upbeat music continues)
I will see you guys in my next video!