Indian cuisine · Desserts & Sweets

Chhena Poda

Baked fresh-cheese cake from Odisha with cardamom and cashews, whose caramel base turns into a dark crust.

Ingredients · for 8 servings

• 2 l whole milk
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 200 g sugar
• 2 tbsp semolina
• 5 cardamom pods
• 60 g cashews
• 50 g raisins
• 2 tbsp ghee

Instructions

1. Bring the milk to a boil, remove from the heat, curdle it with the diluted lemon juice, and strain the chhena through a muslin cloth, rinse with cold water and drain for 45 min.
2. Press out the chhena and knead it on the work surface for 8 min. into a smooth, pliable mass; finely crush the cardamom seeds and roughly chop the cashews.
3. Melt 50 g of the sugar in a pan over medium heat to a dark caramel and immediately pour it into a 22 cm pan greased with ghee, so it covers the bottom.
4. Knead the chhena together with the remaining sugar, semolina, cardamom, cashews and raisins, and let rest for 15 min. so the semolina swells.
5. Fill the mixture into the pan, smooth the top and bake in an oven preheated to 170 °C (340 °F) for 60–70 min., until the surface is deep brown and a skewer inserted comes out only lightly sticky.
6. Let the cake cool completely in the pan, turn it out, cut into diamonds and serve lukewarm or cold.