Chhena Poda RecipeImage Credit source: the.wholesome.cookhouse
There is diversity in Indian food, but some of our old traditional dishes seem to be losing their taste in today’s time. People have also started following western food culture a lot. Tastes connect with each other and travel from one place to another and thus they undergo changes, but one should never give up one’s authentic food. Most people would know about Cheese Cake and it is liked a lot by children especially the young generation. The taste of Odisha’s traditional recipe ‘Chhena Poda’ will make you forget even cheese cake. It is so soft that it dissolves as soon as it goes in the mouth.
Most people know Odisha for Lord Jagannath Temple. There are many other historical temples here too like Konark Temple. Apart from this, Odisha is also known for its beaches and cultural heritage. The city here, Bhubaneswar, is known as the city of temples and it also has Asia’s largest salt water lake. Although very few people talk about the food here, the traditional food of Odisha is very delicious. So let us know the recipe of Chhena Poda made here which is a traditional cheese cake.
Ingredients for Chhena Poda
To make ‘Chhena Poda’, the traditional cake of Odisha, you will need one and a half liter full cream milk, juice of 2 lemons, about 150 grams of sugar or you can take less as per taste and keeping in mind fitness and health. Apart from this, you will need two tablespoons of desi ghee, one-fourth cup of raisins, same number of cashew nuts and 4 green cardamoms along with 3 tablespoons of semolina (about 35-40 grams). Now know the recipe of Chhena Poda.
Preparation to make ‘Chhena Poda’
First of all, do all the preparations, like cut cashew nuts into small pieces. Peel the green cardamom, separate its peels and make powder of the seeds. After this, extract the juice from the lemon and separate its seeds. Add equal amount of water to the juice. If you want, you can also take some other nuts like almonds, walnuts, pistachios in small quantities.
Image:sanjaykumaarofficial/nupurs.kitchen
Recipe of ‘Chhena Poda’
- After doing all the preparations you will have to make Chhena. For this, keep all the milk i.e. one and a half liter in a big vessel for boiling.
- When the milk comes to two boils, turn off the gas and immediately add water with lemon juice, but add it slowly and keep stirring it with a spoon during that time.
- Lemon juice has to be added to the milk only until it separates from the water. After this, separate the chhena from water with the help of a sieve.
- Keep the remaining water in a bowl and cover it. Wash the chhena with water and then mash it well so that it becomes a soft crumble.
- Add semolina, sugar and cardamom powder to chhena and after mixing, mash it well with hands so that the mixture becomes completely smooth. Keep it covered for 15 minutes. This will make the semolina swell well.
- After removing from the rest, add desi ghee, cashew nuts, raisins and nuts of your choice to the mixture of chenna and semolina. Now add some remaining chhena water to it and mix well with hands.
- By adding water Chhena Poda becomes very soft and juicy, but do not add too much water. Its texture should remain thick. In this way your chhena mixture will be ready for baking.
- Grease a baking tray or a flat bowl with desi ghee well and add the prepared mixture to it and pour a little ghee on top, about half a teaspoon.
- Put the cooker on gas and spread salt on the bottom and place a stand inside. On top of this you have to place a vessel filled with the mixture and close the lid.
- While baking, keep in mind that the whistle of the cooker should be removed and the flame should be kept very low. Bake it until it appears golden.
- Keep checking the Chhena Poda from time to time, because if it gets burnt then the taste will get spoiled. In this way, tasty, soft, juicy chhena poda will be prepared, which is also rich in protein.
Also read: You will remain fit even after eating mustard da saag, maize di roti and desi ghee, learn the right method from Tamannaah Bhatia’s fitness trainer.