Burnt Cheesecake (Oriya Style) : ''Chena Poda''

Happy Ram Navami to everyone!!

As Navratri ends and to celebrate Ram Navami, my friend Himanshi has invited us for dinner tonight to their place to savor prasad - puri, chole and sooji haIwa. I told her I would bring some dessert and since its a puja celebration I had to do something without eggs. Long back my aunt from Texas had told me how to make Chena Poda, the typical and very famous Oriya sweet. I decided no better day to make it. It is really very easy to make and is done with very few ingredients.

Chena Poda is my all time favorite Oriya sweet. Chena means paneer and Poda means burnt. So it is basically a sweet made out of paneer (cheese) and baked to an extent where its slightly burnt. And for me those burnt edges are the tastiest portion!!

Back home we don't buy this sweet in pieces but rather in quantities of kilos (kg)..That is how  much this sweet is loved. 

What all I used :

(makes about 25 pieces)

• 16 oz Ricotta cheese (2 cups)

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup half and half (or whole milk)

• 1/4 cup Sooji

• 3-4 pods of cardamom

• Little butter or ghee for greasing

Optional

• Few raisins

• Few cashew nuts

How I made it :

• Mix the ricotta cheese, brown sugar, sooji and milk together in a big bowl. You can use a hand mixer or else do it with your hand. Make sure all of the ingredients are mixed well.

• Break down the cardamom pods and crush them a bit (you can use a mortar and pestle). Add them to the mixture.

• Taste the mixture. If you feel it is little less sweet then add some more sugar to suit your taste buds.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• Take a stoneware baking dish. Grease it nicely (by spreading it all over) with butter or ghee (1/2-1 teaspoon should do it).

• Pour the mixture in the baking dish and cover it tightly with aluminium foil.

• Bake it (on the lower rack of the oven) for about one hour (60 - 70 minutes). Check with a knife or a toothpick if the center is baked properly or not.  If not, give it another 5 - 10 minutes in the oven. Once done take off the foil of the baking dish.

• Now turn the oven into the broil mode. Put the dish on the top rack of the oven and broil it for 5 -10 mins, until the top is nice golden dark color. Definitely check it at 5 minutes and if you want it to brown up further leave it for another 3-5 minutes.

• This is how it looks once you take it out finally.

Let it cool don and cut it into small pieces to savor.!!

I put in the refrigerator for some time and used it.

Note :

• I usually pick my Ricotta Cheese from Walmart. It is a pretty common thing and you will find it in most other stores too.

• You can use fresh paneer if you can make it or fetch it from somewhere. Make sure you have drained all the water out of it. (Here is USA it is easier to use Ricotta Cheese ;))

• You can use packaged cardamom powder too. Take 1 tsp. But best will be to use fresh crushed cardamom.

• Adjust the level of sweetness to suit yourself by adding more or less of sugar.

• I did not use (this time) raising / cashews but it surely brings out good taste. You can chop them into smaller pieces and add them to the mixture before baking.

• I personally love a little extra burnt Chena Poda (after all that is the Poda meant for). To suit your liking and taste keep a check on the broiling part.

Recipe Source : Rina Misra, My aunty who lives in Lubbock (TX)