Chhena Poda, How to Make Chhena Poda

And your trip to Eastern India will not be complete unless you enjoy a slice of this world famous Chhena Poda. Growing up, I was never a fan of this cake, may be, because, I used to take it for granted since I saw it plentily available. But after I moved here to the USA, the zeal and interests in creating my own region’s food took over me and I have been trying and entertaining my friends with a lot of my Eastern India delicacies such as:

Manda Pitha (Rice Dumplings with Coconut Filling)

Khira Gaintha/ Kheer Puli (Milky Rice Dumplings)

I kept the recipe of Chhena Poda as is and didn’t alter it a bit from the original, however, I gave the dish a new look. Instead of baking the Chhena Poda in a bread pan, I baked it in cup cake pans to make the servings small and manageable.

I have tried making Chhena Poda two ways. Ricotta Cheese version which is a lazy but easy way to prepare and from the homemade cheese. The difference in taste is not much between both the versions but I particularly like the homemade cheese version since the texture comes out a bit dense.


INGREDIENTS:

  • To make chhena or cottage cheese or paneer at home, you will need:
  • 1.5 litre milk or ½ gallon whole milk 
  • Juice of 2 lemons or ¼ cup vinega

For Chhena Poda you would need

  • 2 cups chhena. In the absence of homemade chhena, please use ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 TBSP semolina or maida or all-purpose flour
  • 3 to 4 cardamoms powdered 
  • ¼ cup crushed cashew
  • 2 TBSP warm milk
  • 1 TSP baking powder
  • 2 TBSP ghee or clarified butter

METHOD to make homemade Chhena or Cottage Cheese or Paneer

  1. Boil milk in a deep vessel.
  2. Switch off the gas and add vinegar or lemon juice when the milk starts to boil.
  3. The vinegar or the lemon juice will make the milk curdle and the chhena will separate from the water
  4. Drain the whey from the chhena through a muslin cloth.
  5. Run cold water on the chhena a few times to remove the lemon or vinegar smell.
  6. Tie the chhena in the muslin cloth and hang for around 15 minutes to drain excess water. You don’t want to make the chhena very dry either. A little moisture in the chhena would be good.

Now Let’s make Chhena Poda

  1. Crumble and mash the chhena till smooth. Keep aside. 
  2. Add semolina, sugar, cardamom powder, cashew nuts, ghee, milk and baking powder to the chhena.
  3. Mix well.
  4. Grease cupcake tins with ghee and line them with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can make them in another shaped baking tins. 
  5. Spoon the chhena mixture into the cupcake pans and smoothen the top using a flat spatula.
  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180-degree C or 350-degree F for 45 minutes till the top turns brown.
  7. Carefully remove the Chhena Poda into individual plates once they are cold.


thanks done share recipes to : https://myyellowapron.com/2018/01/22/chhena-poda-how-to-make-chhena-poda/