Chena Poda is a very famous and delicious dessert from Orissa. I might have had it earlier , but the one I remember was having it at my DSIL home. She had prepared it while we visited them for holidays. I was overwhelmed by all her preparation and she told me it was actually very simple to make. Like even my BIL can make 😜 My hubby who is born and brought up in Orissa, relished his childhood memories while having it, so I did had to try it. And this is actully simple and easy recipe. Chenna poda is a delicious dessert popular in Odisha. Its made with chenna or  fresh paneer. The entire dish is baked and can also be called paneer cake or roasted cheese.

Ingredients:

For Chena poda

Milk 2 litre or 250 grams Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese)

Juice of 2 lemons

1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons Sugar 1

1/2 tablespoons Ghee

4 tbsp milk or whey water

2 tbsp Sooji (Semolina/ Rava)

1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder (Elaichi)

Cashew nuts choppen in big pieces

Raisins 2 tbsp

For caramelizing

Ghee 1tsp 

Sugar 2-3 tsp

Method:

1. Make Fresh Paneer. You can refer to recipe here.

Add the milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. Lower the flame and add lemon juice. the milk will begin to curdle. Add more juice if it doesnt curdles completely. Switch off the flame and drain the paneer with a muslin cloth. Wash it with water to remove any sour taste of lemon.

2. Take the fresh paneer or store brought one and crumble it well. Mash it well.

3. Add sugar and Semolina and mix it all well.

4. Mash it with a spoon or with hands till all the sugar dissolves and it is like a smooth dough consistency.

5. Slowly add the whey water or milk to make the cake battery consistency batter.

6. Add chopped cashews, raisins and cardamon powder.

Preparing the Pan:

Apply ghee at the base of the 6 inch pan. Add about 2-3 tsp of sugar and put the outside of the pan over direct flame. Keep rotating the pan over the heat , so as sugar starts melting and gets caramelized. Keep rotating the pan so as a thin layer of caramelized sugar is formed in the pan. Pan is ready.

Preheat the oven to 190 F . Add the prepared batter in the pan, tap it twice and bake the cottage cheeses cake for about 25-30 minutes, till the toothpick comes out clean and a light brown layer is formed at the top.

Once cooled, cut the cake into cubes and take it out of the baking pan

Tips:

1. Preparing the pan is not so easy and can be skipped, till we get an hand of it. Chena poda tastes equivalent good without it too.