Despite the fact that 90% of what I ate was home cooked, mostly from scratch, meals, I managed to miss out on some basics like courgette (zucchini) and aubergine (eggplant) and BUTTER if you can believe it.
My mother was big on margarine. So when I moved out I continued the tradition until one day I made a fateful mistake. It was like in Ratatouille. I was sat in my studio just eating buttered bread having an out of body experience.
I am Indian.
Never tried paneer in my life till I was almost 30.
Suddenly my life got brighter after I did.
I am not Indian, but also discovered paneer around 30. Cheese curds + curry = delicious. Why wasn’t this fed to me as soon as I could process solid foods?