* Chenna poda(Cheese cake from Eastern India)

                                                                                                     (Click on the picture to enlarge)
       Chena poda is a delicious cheese cake from Orissa(a province in eastern part of India where cheese deserts are pretty famous and they are simply awesome,there are numerous types of deserts just made from home made cheese).I love this desert a lot,,in my last visit to India I had 250 gm to 500 gm of chena poda almost everyday.Now that's not very healthy,,but I have a sweet sweet tooth and with the company of my husband,,,we give each other good company is  eating kilos of sweets like this.So the other day we  had this BIG  craving for  chena poda and he bought a gallon of 3.25% milk.So I had no way  but to make it.Even though I was tired when the  process was over and   had a bite of this virgin Chena poda,  I forgot all the tiredness..it was yumm,,the caramel that  I poured was  not as good looking but definitely that is a `must`  for a beautiful looking and  tasting crust.Ok,,now without wasting a minute I should  jot down the  process.
So here you go.....

Now there  is two parts to the process
First ,The cheese making process.(It is  basis of many more sweets  like rasgulla,rasmalai,chenna jhilly,,,etc.)
Second, The Chenna poda baking.

As I will be posting   the other deserts made up of soft cheese so I will keep the  cheese making process separate here.

For making Cheese:

Ingredients:

1. Milk- 4 Litres(I used 4 L this time  coz I was baking in 9X9 inch dish,,this amount  can  varry as per your
     requirements,if baking in a  smaller dish  you can reduce the amount or increase the  amont,,the  more the
     better)
2. Vinegar --1/4 cup
3. Water -- 1 cup(for  diluting the  vinegar )
4. Ice  cube --2-3 cups
5. cheese cloth (to filter the cheese)

Procedure:

                                                                                                                       (Click on the picture to enlarge)

1. Bring the milk to  boil and let  it boil for  2  minutes.
2. Dilute the vinegar with the 1 cup of water.
3. Pour the  diluted vinegar  over the boiling milk slowly....slowly because  the cheese will be  soft
    this way,,,and  when the milk  cuddles and you can see the  water and solid  separated,,turn off the stove and pour the ice cubes  so that the cuddling process stops immediately.
4. Filter through  cheese cloth which will separate the  solids from the liquid.
5. Hang the cheese for 15 minutes to let the water drain out.
Now the cheese  is ready and  this can be used  for   any purpose you  want.I just eat few spoons  at this time,,this fresh cheese tastes  so  good.

Now we will  proceed to the  Chenna poda making process:

Ingredients  for  Chenna poda:

1. Fresh made cheese - 1.5 lbs(may be you  can  use ricotta cheese,,if you don't want to go through the cheese making process.I personally never tried,but the ricotta making process looks very similar.So if  any one tries this alternative,,I would be  happy to hear how it came out)
2. Semolina - 2  tb sp (soaked in  3 tb sp water)
3. Sugar - 1.5 cups(1  cup of sugar  for the  cheese cake  and  1/2  cup for  caramel  that we will  spread at
                               the bottom of the  baking dish )
4. Cardamom powder -1  tsp
5. Raisin --2-3 tb sp
6. Cashew -- 2-3  tb sp
7. Oil/Ghee -1/2  t sp (for  sauteing the  dry fruits)
8. water -1/2  cup for caramel
9. Aluminium Foil - for  covering the  9X9 inch  baking dish

Procedure  for  chenna  poda :

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1. Pre heat the  oven at 350 degree celcius.
2. Start  with making the caramel.Pour  1/2  cup  sugar and 1/2  cup water in  a saucepan and  make the 
    caramel(For detail you can  refer the  cream caramel  recipe in my  blog,,,
     http://titilating-tastebuds.blogspot.com/2010/03/caramel-flan-cream-caramel.html)
3.Once the caramel is ready,pour it  on the   baking dish .(just try to cover as  much area you  can  spread
   quickly,because it will  get  hard  very  quickly.it  might not  be  very looking at this  point  of time,but when
   you finish  baking ,, this will impart the  flavour to  die  for)
4. Fry the Cashew and raisin in oil/Ghee  until they just  get a light brown colour.
5. Now in a bowl, mix Fresh cheese,Sugar, Cardamom powder,soaked semolina very well and
    knead  for  5-10 minutes.
6.Spread the cheese  mixture on the  baking tray where you  already  have spread the caramel.Level the
   cheese  and cover the baking dish with  aluminum  foil ,make some slits on the foil with a  knife.

7. Bake it for  30-40 minutes  in 350degrees F.
8. Test the  doneness by pricking a toothpick or knife.
9.Let  it cool for sometime and you can munch on it,,It  is also good when chilled.But i prefer warm so if i take it out of freeze  then  microwave for 10-15 secs and it melts in my mouth.

You liked or disliked.or a have a suggestion ...feel free to write back to me...

                                                                                                                         (Click on the picture to enlarge)