CHENA PODA OR PANEER CAKE OR BAKED COTTAGE CHEESE

Chena poda (I prefer to call it Paneer Cake)  is  a sweet dish from the state of Odisha in the eastern India.Chena poda literally means burnt cheese. In Odiya language,Chena means cottage cheese or paneer and Poda means burnt.

 It is made with well kneaded homemade cottage cheese along with kaju or cashew nuts, raisins or kismis ,  ghee or clarified butter  and sugar, then it is slowly baked till the brown color appears.   Chhena poda is the only well known Indian dessert whose flavor is predominantly derived from the caramelization of sugar....and this makes this sweet dish different from other Indian desserts .

In traditional way it  is   slowly baked in earthen fire for few hours and then cooled down for hours before serving.These sweets are very famous through out Orissa.This is said to be the favorite dessert of Lord Jaganath.

Before starting the recipe, I would like to thank my neighbour cum freind Mona...she is a Odiya girl married with a Gujrati boy...one day she knocked my door...and gave this delicious sweet Chena Poda ..it was  new to me...as Odisha is my neighbourhood state...but I have never heard about it...so first time I got a chance to taste it...and yes I can say it was delicious. I can assure...you will fall in love with once you have a bite of it.

Today we are going to learn how to make Chena Poda or Paneer Cake...you can bake it in OTG,or if  you have Microwave with convection mode..then you can bake  it in there also....or if you do not have both OTG or Microwave wih Convection Mode..then you do not need to be worried. .you can  bake it in Pressure cooker also.

The main ingredient of this dish is chena or paneer or cottage cheese. ..so first we will have to make chena or paneer. ..to make chena or paneer we need to have...milk and lemon juice or vinegar.


INGREDIENTS OF MAKING CHENA OR PANEER OR COTTAGE CHEESE

Milk-2ltr
Lemon juice or Vinegar-3tbsp (if required, add more lemon juice or vinegar to curdle the milk)


METHOD OF MAKING CHENA OR PANEER OR COTTAGE CHEESE

Take a heavy bottomed vessel, add milk

Bring it to  boil and keep stirring to avoid burning of milk..

Once the milk comes to boil, simmer the gas, start adding the lemon juice and keep stirring( if required,add more lemon juice) cook for few seconds until the milk solids gets separates from the whey. Switch off the heat.

Pour this curdled milk to the already lined muslin cloth over a strainer,squeeze out all the whey water then  rinse   chena under the tap water  as much as possible....if you do not rinse the chena or paneer  proper. .you will  get the smell  of lemon while having it.

Now hang the cloth covered  chena or paneer tap for 30 minutes. It will help to squeeze  more water from chena or paneer.

Make sure you do not drain it for too long and the chena does not get too dry. It should be moist enough to knead it smoothly.

Now you chena or paneer or cottage cheese are ready...now we will make Chena Poda or Paneer Cake by using this homemade Chena or paneer.



INGREDIENTS OF MAKING CHENA PODA OR PANEER CAKE

Home made chena or paneer-:1and1/2cup(approximately )

Granulated Sugar:1cup (add normal sugar in a blender, blend it on medium speed for 10 -15seconds)(if required add more )

if you have more or less chena..then just adjust sugar quantity  according  to the above chena  and sugar  measurements

Raisins(chopped)-2tbsp

Cashew nuts(chopped)-2tbsp

Green cardamom powder-1/2tsp

Sooji or Semolina -1tsp

Baking powder:1/2tsp

Ghee or Clarified Butter-1tbsp


For Caramelizing :
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp  ghee or clarified butter


METHOD OF MAKING CHENA PODA OR PANEER CAKE

In a big plate, take homemade Chena or paneer...knead it very well til you found no lumps

Add Suji and powdered sugar and rest of the ingredients.....mix it well....mash it thoroughly using hands just like a soft dough.

To get a caramelized effect on the top, apply a tsp. of ghee to the baking tin. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of sugar on the tin. Hold the tin with pot holder slightly above gas stove for few minutes to melt the sugar. Spread the melted sugar evenly.

Then pour the chenna mix over the caramelized sugar.


FOR BAKING IN OVEN

Preheat oven of  180 degree C 350 degree F for 10 minutes.  Then put the chena mixed baking tin in oven and bake it for 45 minutes or Insert a toothpick to check.... if the toothpick comes out cleanthen it is done. Cool it for 2 to 3 hours and then turn it upside down. Slice and serve. It stays fresh for a week in the refrigerator.

FOR BAKING IN PRESSURE COOKER


Use a pressure cooker that's at least 3 litres, but 5 litres is a good size  what I would recommend.

Remove the gasket (the rubber insulation thing) on the lid of your pressure cooker. This is an important step. You also do NOT need the whistle.

My pressure cooker came with this stand that goes at the bottom of the cooker pan. It distributes heat more evenly and is especially useful when baking in the pressure cooker. If you don't have, try to find a substitute. Maybe a small, thick steel plate would do the job as well.

It's better not to have the cake pan touch the bottom of the pressure cooker directly since that may cause the bottom of the cake to cook more rapidly.


you need to pre-heat the pressure cooker. For this, just place the lid (without gasket) on the pressure cooker (which should contain no water) and cook on high heat for 2 mins.


 Now, keep the flame in low and place the aluminium vessel with the cheese batter carefully inside the cooker. Close the cooker without gasket and weight,... cook for 30 minutes to be done.

Check it after 30 minutes by inserting a knife or toothpick in the centre of the batter, if it comes out clean, means it’s done, otherwise cook for some more time. (Mine took 30-35 minutes)

Cool it for 2 to 3 hours and then turn it upside down. Slice and serve. It stays fresh for a week in the refrigerator.

DALMA (ODIYA STYLE DAL OR LENTIL SOUP WITH LOTS OF VEGETABLES)

                                   

             
Dalma is a famous traditional recipe prepared in Odisha. Whatever is the occasion Dalma is must in an Odia kitchen. It is a very  healthy recipe providing almost all the nutrients required for a balanced meal. It is among the 56 food items (Mahaprasad) offered to Lord Jagannath in the temple of Puri,as there is no use of onion  and  garlic.

Here I have cooked dalma using   with arhar  dal,chana dal and few vegetables..you can cook using any dal and vegetables...choosing  dal and vegetabler are upto you...whatever  dal and vegetables you like,you can choose.

Here three ingredients are important. ..pachphoron, grated coconut and powder of cumin seeds or jeera and  dry red chilli).So do not forget to put these  three  ingredients.

Pachphoron  is the famous  spices in Bengali  and Odiya cuisin.. In Odissa...it is called Pachphutana....All of the spices in panch phoron are seeds. Typically, panch phoron consists offenugreek seed (methi ) , nigella seed , cumin seed , black mustard seed and fennel seed  in equal parts.We do tempering  oil with it to make some dal,sabji etc.

INGREDIENTS 

Arhar or Toor dal -1/2cup
Chana or Bengal Gram or Cholar dal-1/2cup
Papita (Raw Papaya) – 1/4 th of a small  papaya(cut into cubes )
Potato-1(cut into cubes )
Brinjal – 1/2(cut into cubes )
Drumstick -1(cut into 2"long strips)
Beans – 1/2cup (cut into strips)
Pumpkin – 1/2cup (cut into cubes)
Parwal-(2cut into cubes )
Turai or Ridgegourd -1/2 (cut into cubes )
Tomato -1 (cut into slices)
Pachphoron -(take 1/4tsp of each Mustard seeds, Fennel seeds(Sounf) , Fenugreek seeds (methi),Cumin seeds  (jeera) and Kalonji or Nigella seeds or Kalojeera )
Jeera (Cumin Seed)- 2tsp
Turmeric Powder – 2tsp
Grated Coconut - 1/2cup
Bay Leaf -2 pc
Dry Chili– 2pc
Vegetable oil – 3tbsp
Ghee or Clarified  butter -2tsp
Salt) – as per taste-


METHOD

Wash the vegetables thoroughly.
Soak the dal in water for about 1 hr.
Fry 3 tsp cumin seed and 2 pc dry chili slightly, then make a fine powder out of it, keep aside.
 Dry roast coconut and set aside.
Boil 5 cups of water in a deep pan. Add the dal, turmeric powder,chilli powder and ginger and cook it.
After 5 minutes add the vegetables to it. Add salt.
When the vegetables are half cooked add the tomato pieces.
Cook it till everything is well cooked.
Remove from gas .
Heat oil in a deep pan.
When hot add the mustard seed, cumin seed, bay leaf and dry chili..let them  splutter.
Add the onion slices, fry it till turns golden brown.
Add the boiled dal and vegetable mixture to it slowly.
Cover it and cook for 5 minutes.
Finally sprinkle the cumin chili powder mix and coconut  on it.
Remove from flame Serve hot with rice or roti.