Chhena poda is a cheese dessert from the Indian state of Odisha. Chhena poda literally means Baked Cheese in Odia. It is made of well-kneaded homemade fresh cheese chhena, sugar, and is baked for several hours until it browns.
#Paneer
As Required Fresh or dried rose petals for garnishing
Directions: Chenna Poda Recipe
STEP 1.Place 2 liter milk in a sauce pan on stove and heat on medium flame until it boils. Put off the flame and allow the milk to cool down for 5 minutes. Now add lemon juice little by little while stirring the milk.
STEP 2.2. The milk will curdle and you can notice a green color liquid separating out from the coagulated mass . This is whey. Strain the milk using a muslin cloth lined colander. Collect the whey in a container placed below the colander. Now gather the sides of the cloth in which the chhena is collected. Rinse the cheena under running water while in cloth, to remove the traces of lemon juice. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the cheena. 2 liter full cream milk yielded me 2 cups chhena.
STEP 3.Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Grease a 8 inch round cake pan or a loaf pan with ghee. Set aside until use. Place the fresh chhena in a mixing bowl. With clean hands, knead it for 3-4 minutes or until it becomes soft and looks more or less like batter. Add sugar, semolina, cardamom powder to the kneaded chhena. In a small pan heat ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins separately, until the raisins puff up and the cashews turn golden in color. Add these fried cashew and raisins to the mixing bowl.
STEP 4.4. Mix everything very well using a whisker. Add whey or milk little by little to adjust the consistency. I used 4 tablespoon whey. Now to make the caramel, add 2 tablespoon sugar to the greased cake pan. Heat it on a stove top or in microwave until the sugar melts and starts become golden brown in color. Now tilt the pan or use a spatula to spread the caramel on all sides of the base of pan.
STEP 5.Pour the chhena sugar mix on this caramel layer and press uniformly in the pan using a spatula. Tap the pan twice and place it in a preheated oven .
STEP 6.6. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Check for done-ness of cake by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it is clean the cheena poda is ready, if you find it stick bake for another 5 minutes. Allow the chhena poda to cool down for a while.
STEP 7.Now loosen the sides of the pan and invert the cake on a plate. You can see a brown moist caramel layer at the top . Garnish it with Chopped Almonds and rose petals and serve warm or cold.
Nutrition value
565
calories per serving
31 g Fat13 g Protein58 g Carbs3 g FiberOther
Current Totals
Fat
31g
Protein
13g
Carbs
58g
Fiber
3g
MacroNutrients
Carbs
58g
Protein
13g
Fiber
3g
Fats
Fat
31g
Vitamins & Minerals
Calcium
347mg
Iron
2mg
Vitamin A
22mcg
Vitamin B1
< 1mg
Vitamin B2
< 1mg
Vitamin B3
1mg
Vitamin B6
< 1mg
Vitamin B9
44mcg
Vitamin B12
< 1mcg
Vitamin C
9mg
Vitamin E
3mg
Copper
< 1mcg
Magnesium
60mg
Manganese
< 1mg
Phosphorus
301mg
Selenium
9mcg
Zinc
1mg
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. All nutritional information presented are estimates and not meant to substitute professional dietary advice or treatment