Oriya food is not very well known, yet it is a food were there is attention to detail, superb execution and pure singular flavors...most of the sweets are made from Chenna ( Chenna means Child of Milk) and Poda is Burnt...simply put Chenna Poda is India's answer to America's Cheese Cake and I absolutely adore it. I grabbed some Ricotta Cheese from Trader Joe's and was ready for some kitchen action.
Ingredients
- Ricotta Cheese (1 Lb)
- Sugar (1/2 Lb)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Sooji/Semolina ( 3 tablespoons)
- Cardamom Powder ( 1/2 teaspoon)
- Optional - Raisins
The dough with have the consistency of a smooth cake batter
Mix in the dry fruits if you want them at this point.
Pour into a oven safe dish and bake at 350 °F for about an hour.
The baking times will vary based on the dish. So start checking around 40 minutes into the baking time.
To check poke a fork into the middle and see if you come up with syrupy batter or comes out clean.If it comes out clean,take it out of the baking dish and allow it to cool before serving. I get experimental sometimes and add different flavors -- like once I added in 4-5 table spoons of Rooh Afza ...it was a refreshing change but most times I want to stick to the simple classic taste of Chenna Poda.
The house smells amazing and I am on my 3rd slice of this Indian Version of Western Cheesecake. Try it and I am sure it will get you hooked...
Passing this along for the blog event Celebrate Sweets hosted by PJ @ http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/2010/11/announcing-celebrate-sweets.html. This event was incidentally started by Nivedita @ http://niveditaskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/09/details-of-event-celebrate-sweets.html.
Let me know how this recipe turns out for you...
Please try to know the history of it. First it is not Bengali/Oriya dessert ..it's an authentic Oriya sweet.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Chhena is an oriya word (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhena)
Rasagula(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgulla) has already been hijacked by Bengali and known all over the place as a authentic bengali sweet partly because of ignorant recipe writer like you and now this.
Dont hijack Oriya sweets dear...its delicious that doesn't mean its from Bengal !!!! huh
ReplyDeleteChhenapoda is an authentic ORIYA sweet.. Not at all Bengali desert. It is delicious so can be hijacked by anyone it seems! Huh
ReplyDelete