CHENNA PODA

CHENNA  PODA
  / PANEER CAKE /INDIAN CHEESECAKE _
It literally means burnt or caramelized cheese . It's a very popular sweet of Odisha ,India , the home of Lord Jagannath at Puri . It is said that it is his favorite sweet . Infact ,   it's offered as an offering to him in the temple and thereafter to the devotees  as Prasad
         It is made by mixing home made cream cheese ( Chenna) with sugar or jaggery , ghee ( clarified butter) ,  Semolina, dry fruits  and traditionally baked in angithi ( mud ovens fed by dry leaves ) . So it is also called the Indian cheese cake.
Now ovens  and even microwaves are used to make this delicious sweet . The flavor of the caramelized sugar or jaggery is the star of the Chenna poda .
       Chenna is made by curdling boiling milk with little lime juice till the milk separates . The cuddled milk is strained through and the white residue left on the strainer is the CHENNA  which is used for this recipe. Don't discard the whey or the water  . It will be used to make the batter . You can use the rest of it to make dals , soups,curries etc . Kneading the dough with Chenna water makes rotis ,Puris or paratha s tasty ,healthy and nutritious . One more tip I learnt from my mother was that using curd to curdle milk ,made softer Chenna than using vinegar or lemon juice .
          I remember having Chenna poda for the first time when I went to Odisha way back in 2000 . That time though I used to bake a lot ,  I had never  made Chenna poda  at home as I didn't have the recipe . But now with the access to the Google it's become easy to learn things .
              I had tried it for the first time when my late aunt visited us from USA . Though apprehensive,I was hell  bent on making this for her . She herself was an expert cook who could whip up any kind of dish in a jiffy . Thankfully,  I nailed it in my first try . She even asked me for the recipe.

Here goes the recipe :
         
CHENNA PODA
INGREDIENTS
Chenna _ 250gms ( made by curdling 1 litre milk)
Sugar ( powdered)_              3TBSP
Semolina _.          2 - 3 TBSP ( I used 3 TBSP powdered Semolina rusk)
Ghee (clarified butter)  _         2TBSp
Warm Chenna whey  _.           As needed
Baking powder.         _              1/2 tsp
Chopped Dry fruits, green cardamom powder
CARAMEL SUGAR
Sugar.                        2TBSP

METHOD
 Mash Chenna
Add   powder sugar and cardamom powder Mix  lightly with a balloon whisk till the Chenna turns soft
Add suji ( I added 3tbsp powdered rusk), baking powder and ghee and mix lightly
Add  little warm Chenna whey ( as needed)  and mix lightly . The batter should be like cake batter .
Add dry fruits and raisins and mix
CARAMEL SUGAR
Caramelize some sugar as you do for caramel pudding _ Heat sugar in a heavy bottom pan on low flame till it melts and turns brown
Pour caramel in a greased baking dish
Pour Chenna mixture on the caramel
Bake at 180deg cel for 30_35 minutes till done
Cool  and unmould
 slice and enjoy
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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