Chhena Poda, The authentic cheese cake of Lord Jagannath.
Chhena Poda, or the burnt Cheesecake is one of the favorite sweets of Lord Jagannath and is often offered to him at Jagannath Puri Temple after his mid-day meal. There is reference to this desert in Laxmi Puran, where mother Laxmi offers this sweet to both the divine siblings when they visit her abode, near sea shore. This is a rare dessert which is a combination of freshly curdled milk or crumbled paneer mixed with mild semolina (optional) and sugar which is baked for several hours until it becomes red or brown. Often the caramelized sugar or jaggery brings out the distinct flavor of Chhena Poda, which is often cooked in wood stoves - inside Sal leaves to give a nice aroma with traditional flavor. Unlike other deserts, the ingredient list is very small.
Ingredients:
1. 1/2-gallon Full fat milk
2. Lemon Juice to curdle the milk
3. 3/4 cup sugar
4. 1 Tsp Cardamom powder
5. 2 Tbsp Semolina or Crushed Samo (optional)
6. 2 Tbsp yogurt
7. 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
8. 1 tsp ghee
9. 1/4 to 1/2 cup whey (remaining water from Milk curdle)
Process:
1. In a large steel cooking pot - boil milk to full boil till the milk rises up.
2. Add lime juice from all sides slowly and you will see the milk is getting curdled from all sides.
3. Keep the milk pot in low flame for one minute and later slowly filter the curdled milk through a cheesecloth into a bowl.
4. Squeeze out the remaining water or whey from the curdled milk and Keep one cup of whey separately which we will use later in this desert.
5. In a mixing flat bowl, keep this curdled milk and knead it gently with the bottom of your palm till no lumps are there. Please make sure, the curdled milk solids should be at room temperature.
6. Add sugar, cardamom powder, baking soda, Dahi, ghee and mix well.
7. Add little semolina or Samo flour and mix well, this gives a nice binding touch, however you can skip this step if you want to make this recipe without any grains or Ekadashi friendly.
8. Add little whey water in a spoon to the mixture and knead well. You can repeat this step to get a smooth cake batter like consistency.
9. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees F.
10. Grease a cake pan with butter or ghee and add mild sugar on it. If you can mildly caramelize the sugar, it adds a nice brown color to the dish
11. Pour the Curdled milk or Chhena mixture into the pan and tap it twice to avoid air bubbles.
12. Bake in the preheated oven for around an hour, depending on your oven setting. The top crust will be dark golden or brownish in color.
13. Remove from the oven once it is fully baked. There should not be any bubble once it is fully baked. Check with a toothpick and it should come out clean.
14. Let the baked Chhena Poda cool completely, then transfer it into an offering plate and cut into small slices.
*** If you have Sal leaves you can layer it on your baking pan. Lightly brush with ghee and caramelized sugar. Pour the Curdled milk or Chhena Mixture and bake it in an oven or wooden stove. The combination of wooden stove and Sal leaves give a nice aroma to this dish. I remember in my childhood days, my grandma used to keep this Chhena mixture wrapped inside Sal leaves and leave it inside the stove at night after the cooking was done. This Chhena mixture gets cooked the whole night in low charcoal flame and mild heat inside the stove. Early in the morning, when we got up she used to surprise us with this wonderful sweet.
*** Caramelizing a Springform pan and baking the mixture on it - gives a good color and it is easy to remove as well. This can be also prepared with Ricotta Cheese, but in traditional Odisha homes and temples this is prepared from milk.