Easy Chhena Poda with Brown Sugar
When craving a rustic sweet, this Easy Chhena Poda with Brown Sugar brings authentic Odia flavours using simple ingredients and minimal effort.
Ingredients
1 cup = 250 ml
- 500 gram Chenna
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar of your choice (we used 180 gram brown sugar - read notes below)
- 4 tbsp semolina/suji/rava
- 2 tsp desi ghee
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 2 tbsp cashews (chopped)
- 1 tbsp pistachios
- 1/4 cup whey/chenna water (or milk)
Instructions
- Take a bowl and add sugar, whey, cardamom powder, baking powder, nutmeg powder, desi ghee and semolina.
- Mix well.
- Also add raisins and cashews and mix. Keep aside.
- Take chenna in a wide plate or paraat.
- Start mashing chenna using the base of your palm.
- Mash until chenna turns creamy. It may take 5 to 6 minutes.
- Transfer this creamy chenna in a bowl carrying wet ingredients.
- Mix very well.
- Spread pistachios at the base of the greased baking tin. You need to spread pistachios on a side which will be the top as per your cake tin.
- Transfer this batter in it and level it.
- Bake in preheated oven @170°C for 60 to 70 minutes in the middle rack with both rods on.
- Take it out and check the done-ness by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, its a sign that chenna Poda is baked perfectly. And if it doesn't happen, you need to bake for more time.
- Let it cool down before inverting.
- Cut into slices and enjoy.
Notes
- We made fresh chenna after curdling 4 litres of buffalo milk. You may need different quantity as the quality of milk varies from place to place, shop to shop. Important thing is that whatever quantity of milk you may take, chenna should come to 500 grams. We got 588 grams of chenna from 4 litres milk. Kept aside 88 grams and used 500 grams for this recipe.
- You can use readymade paneer as well.
- We have mentioned sugar quantity from 3/4 to 1 cup because sweetness level in every type of sugar is different. We used brown sugar which is less sweet than normal white sugar so the quantity is 1 cup & with this, chenna Poda was moderately sweet. If you are using regular white sugar then use 3/4 cup. And in case of jaggery (powdered or grated) it should also be 1 cup.
- Prefer to use whey water only. This is that greenish water which is left after curdling milk. In case you don't have this water because you are using store bought paneer to make this recipe, then go for milk in that case only.