28 states: How to make Odisha's Chhena Poda

Photographs: Lopamudra Tripathy

We had asked you, dear reader, to share with us recipes and photographs of any of these wonderful dishes from the 28 states of India. Today we bring you the recipe of Odisha's Chhena Poda.

Nothing can possibly prepare you for the diversity of India and its cuisines.

Following up on a list by Storypick, we invited you, our readers, to share recipes from select dishes from India's 28 states.

Also see:
Maharashtra's Thalipeeth
Andhra special Gongura Pachadi
Masor Tenga, Assam's fish curry recipe
Gujarat's special Khandvi
Kerala's Irachi Ishtu
Madhya Pradesh's Bhutte ka Kees
Bihar's Litti Chokha
West Bengal's Daab Chingri

We have, as always, been inundated with your responses. Today, Lopamudra Tripathy and Pratap Bhanja share this recipe of Chhena Poda from Odisha.

This is Lopamudra Tripathy's recipe:

Ingredients

For chhena or cottage cheese
1.5 litre milk
Juice of 2 lemons
For Chhena Poda
2 cups chhena
2 cups powdered brown sugar
3 tbsp semolina
5 cardamoms powdered
1 tbsp cashew nuts broken
1 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp warm milk
½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp of sugar for making caramel

Method

1. Boil milk in a deep vessel. Simmer and add lemon juice when the milk starts boiling.

2. Curdling will happen and you will see the chhena separating from the water. Boil for a minute and turn off the flame.

3. Sieve the chhena through a strainer lined with muslin cloth.

4. Tie the chhena in the muslin cloth and hang for around 30 minutes to drain excess water.

5. Crumble and mash the chhena till smooth. Keep aside.

6. Fry cashew nuts and raisins lightly to give a richer taste to the preparation.

7. Add semolina, powdered sugar, cardamom powder and fried cashew nuts and raisin to the chhena. Add 2 table spoon of milk to it and mix well.

8. Grease a baking tin with ghee or butter.

9. Sprinkle a tablespoon of brown sugar and heat the pan. Once the sugar starts getting caramelized, switch off the flame and tilt the baking pan so that its base is well covered with caramel syrup.

10. Now add baking powder to the chhena mixture, pour it in the pan and spread evenly using a flat spatula.

11. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 45 minutes till the top turns brown.

12. Insert a tooth pick in the center. It should come out clean. If it is wet, bake for 5 more minutes.

13. Run a knife through the sides and invert the cooking tin on a plate as soon as it is out of the oven. Any delay will make the sugar at the base of the tin harder making it difficult to come out intact.

14. Slice the Chhena Poda and serve hot or cold.

Love to cook? Care to share?

Here are the other recipes we are looking for along with photographs

Arunachal Pradesh: Smoked Pork In Sengmora Xaak

Chhattisgarh: Dehrori

Goa: Bebinca

Gujarat: Khandvi

Haryana: Bajra Khichdi

Himachal Pradesh: Madra

Jammu and Kashmir: Kalaadi Cheese

Jharkhand: Rugda

Karnataka: Pandi Curry

Kerala: Irachi Ishtu

Madhya Pradesh: Bhutte Ka Kees

Manipur: Khaman Asinba Kangshoi

Meghalaya: Jadoh With Pork

Mizoram: Sawhchiar

Nagaland: Nagaland Pork With Dry Bamboo Shoot

Punjab: Makki-roti And Sarson-saag

Rajasthan: Malaai Ghewar

Sikkim: Phagshapa

Tamil Nadu: Kambu Koozh

Tripura: Awan Bangwi With Wahan Mosdeng And Khundrupui Leaf

Uttar Pradesh: Baingan Ki Lonje

Uttarakhand: Bal Mithai

West Bengal: Daab Chingri

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We are inviting you, our dear readers, to share with us your special recipes of these dishes.

Tell us how you make any of the dishes listed above.

Simply mail your recipes along with a photograph of the dish to getahead@rediff.co.in with the subject line 'Indian Recipes'.

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Tags: Khaman Asinba Kangshoi , Bhutte Ka Kees , Daab Chingri , Chhena Poda , Bajra Khichdi

28 states: How to make Odisha's Chhena Poda

Photographs: Pratap Bhanja

This is Pratap Bhanja's recipe:

Ingredients

Fresh cheese: 1 kg
Sugar: 400-450 gm
Semolina (Suji / Rawa): 50-75 gm
Cashew nuts: 200-250 gm
Raisins (Kishmish): 50-75 gm
Green cardamom (Elaichi): 12-15 pcs, powdered
Deshi ghee: 150-200 gm

Method

To make fresh cheese you need 4-5 litre milk and 2-3 tbsp curd.

Boil milk and add the curd. Let it boil till cheese and water starts separating. Simmer till water quantity reduces to more than half.

Drain excess water by putting a lid over the container.

Fry cashew nuts and Kishmish lightly in ghee till light brown. Keep aside.

Take a big bowl. Mix cheese, sugar, semolina.

Add roasted cashew nuts, raisins and cardamom powder.

Knead to make soft dough. If you can make little balls out of it then it is ready to be baked.

Warn a baking tray.

Line the base and sides of the tray with ghee.

Put banana leafs (or Shal tree leafs - Shorea robusta) cut neatly to fit the inside of the tray.

Again, brush the leaf cover with ghee.

Sprinkle some sugar in the ghee-brushed leaf-coated tray all around to caramelise the Chhena Poda.

Pour the dough in the tray. Spread evenly and put to bake.

Traditional method of baking

Once the baking tray is ready with the mixture, cover it with 4/5 layers of plantain leaf or an aluminium foil.

Put burning charcoal over that. Else, you can put a lid on the tray and then put burning charcoal.

Put the tray on earthen oven with low intensity flame. Let it be there for 1½ - 2 hours. You can check the status of baking by piercing a small knife or a clean toothpick. If it is done, the toothpick/knife would come out clean.

Modern method of baking

Once the baking tray is ready with the mixture, put it in the microwave oven. Set the cooking time to 30-45 minutes.

After the baking time is over, open the over door. Leave the tray in the oven to cool down.

Your delicious Chhena Poda is ready to be served.

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