> Any Indian market in a large metropolitan area will have several brands of
> Paneer, always labelled as "paneer". Before I realized this, I used to
> use Julie Sahni's recipe. It is a fair amount of work, and you end up with
> a somewhat amateuristic product.
> BTW, Julie Sahni's book should be on most of your bookshelves, if your
> interests are in that direction at all. Of the 4-5 books I have about
> Indian cooking, hers has the most charisma[which you need if you're trying
> something for the first time], and it's excellent.
> I find Indian cooking very challenging. It's very difficult for a newcomer
> to master the spices in a fashion that mimicks the taste of your local
> Indian restaurant.
> Cheers,
> Kent
I live fairly close to D.C. (about 80 miles as the crowe flies), but it is
getting harder for me to find an Indian grocer west of D.C., I think they
must be moving somewhere else, or back into D.C., itself. But I never was
able to buy paneer at any Indian grocer when I did find one. I usually have
to make my own. I've been reduced to using tofu, but that's not a proper
substitute for me.

I believe I have every spice known in Indian cooking, but I'm sure I don't
touch the totality of them. I try to keep them up-to-date. It is the most
satisfying cuisine to me; Italian next. Books, I have to have them all --
even Sahni's on microwave, but I just don't cook microwave.

I don't know where you live, but I do shop in Fairfax, Vienna, sometimes
Falls Church and that area. I don't like to go to the Arlington area or
McClean. Sometimes I will go to Reston.
Dee Dee