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

• Boil milk in a deep vessel.
• Switch off the gas and add vinegar or lemon juice when the milk starts to boil.
• The vinegar or the lemon juice will make the milk curdle and the chhena will separate from the water
• Drain the whey from the chhena through a muslin cloth.
• Run cold water on the chhena a few times to remove the lemon or vinegar smell.
• 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

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

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