Each time I visit a Bengali sweet shop, it is difficult for me to look past the Chenna supremacy. Chenna or cheese curd, is often confused with paneer, but it is slightly different. The former is moister and softer, if you knead it and apply more pressure to chenna, it would become Paneer. Made by adding food acids such as vinegar or lemon juice to milk and straining it through a cloth bag made of muslin or other similar cloths, chenna is used to make a variety of Indian sweets such as Rasgulla, Rasmalai, Sandesh and Rajbhog.
Interestingly, chenna is not entirely of Indian origin. It is believed that when the Portuguese arrived in India, they brought a lot of their culinary practices to the subcontinent too, and their fascination with cheese became a hit among the desis. The method of making chenna, however, was developed over the years and soon Chenna became a mainstay in Indian confectioneries, just how paneer took over the Indian vegetarian fare.
To make the best chenna-based sweets, you need the best chenna, and there are no shortcuts to it. Making chenna is a very easy feat, but the challenge lies in the technique. Here are certain tips which can help you churn out the softest chenna.
- It is advisable to use chenna paani, or the water drained out of your previous batch of chenna. It helps lock moisture in your next batch of chenna.
- You can use vinegar, sugar, water, milk powder too to curdle the milk.
- If you are using vinegar to make chenna, make sure the vinegar to water ratio is 1: 3, since vinegar is very strong.
- It is also advisable to use cow milk to make chenna over buffalo milk.
- Do not overheat the milk, good chenna can be made at around 80 degree celsius too.
- Keep stirring occasionally, you want soft cheese-like consistency of your milk. Make sure, you are not making paneer, so the texture at no point should be firm as paneer. A very soft, cheese-like texture is what you are looking for.
- Spread a muslin cloth over vessel, pour the mixture into the cloth. Pour some chilled water on top, this would help mellow the effect of vinegar. Collect the edges bring them all together, and apply pressure to drain the water. Open the cloth and you would have your chenna.
- Reserve the chenna water in case you need to prepare another batch.
With this chenna you can make a legion of sweets. For this festive season, we suggest you try this Mango Sandesh. It is quick, easy and a crowd favourite. Try making chenna from scratch and let us know how you liked it.
