There are two kinds of disappointment in the kitchen. One is when you know your subpar dinner is your own fault, and had you taken just a little more care you wouldn't be choking down such an unsatisfying meal. The other is when the problem lies with subpar ingredients that fail to be what you know they could and should. I have experienced this at times with store-bought paneer, a convenience product that too often cooks up hard and rubbery. It's especially jarring if you've ever eaten good quality, freshly made paneer and know just how wonderfully milky and light it can be. Serious Eats / Swetha Sivakumar  But does that mean we have to either accept chewy nubs of refrigerator-aisle cheese or make paneer from scratch ? Is there nothing we can do to transform store-bought paneer back to a better version of itself? You know the answer is that we can. But before I tell you how, let's find out why this happens in the first place.…