Chena Poda - Bada Dada Style

-
Inspired by my Bada Dada {Father's younger brother}, this Chena Poda (Literally means Burnt Chena/Paneer) recipe is a quick fix for the Odisha famous chena poda sold on pretty much every corner of Cuttack (I am sure its available in BBSR, Puri etc too}. In USA (Saat Samandar Paar - Seven Seas Away...), a tub of creamy ricotta cheese does the trick.





This recipe is a family favorite & this recipe is so easy that you can literally whip it up in a few minutes if you have all the ingredients in your pantry/refrigerator. This serves as a perfect fix for dessert blues during tough week days. 


Things that I used
  • A tub of ricotta cheese - 16Oz
  • 2 table spoons of Sooji/Fine Semolina
  • 2 - 3 tbsp Jaggery
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • powder of 4-5 pods of green cardamon
  • 1 table spoon ghee


Process
  • Mix with hand - Ricotta + jaggery + cardamom powder + raisins + sooji. Please do not use electric mixer or stand mixer. Its much better with hands. :)
  • Spread ghee in a 6 inch round baking tray on all sides. 
  • Pour the cheese mix into the baking tray. Beat the tray on the kitchen counter to make sure that the cheese mixture is evenly distributed in the tray.
  • Bake on 400 F (My oven is the bigger one which comes with the cooking ranges in USA apartments) for 30 mins and then keep checking with a toothpick every 5 mins till the toothpick comes out clean. Mine takes between 35 to 40mins.
  • It's very important that we are vigilant, else Chena Poda will really "Burn" !!

Enjoy !!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gluten Free Almond Flour Mango Cake

-
Image
 Here's my take on the Gluten Free mango Cake.... There's not a story behind it other than the fact that I am trying to reduce sugar & gluten in my diet due to the health reasons & this cake gave me everything that I need for those late evening sweet cravings without feeling guilty or sad or having to plan extra time on the treadmill the next day.  This cake is made from almond flour so it's on the denser side & not entirely fluffy BUT it is soft & makes for an awesome tea time accompaniment.  Here's what I used... Wet ingredients 1 cup mango puree 3 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or butter) Dry ingredients 2.5 cups of Almond flour 2 tsp baking powder Process First mix all the wet ingredients in a clean bowl using a wire whisk Then add in the baking powder & almond flour Mix nicely using a spatula - DO NOT USE Wire whisk  Transfer the contents to a greased 10 inch round cake tin Bake until tooth-pick comes out clean on 325 F for ab
Read more

Chicken Patra Poda

-
Image
 Since the last few days, I have been binge watching YouTube videos of some Odiya Vloggers in the US. There are some really entertaining folks who sing & dance & go about their lives while sharing ups & downs with us (their subscribers). Sometimes they get too personal but it's the age of Social Media so I guess that is perfectly fine if the creator is OK with that. These folks that I watch are mostly girls ..Actually they are all girls.. hmm.. time for me to expand the scope a bit?? may be !!.  Anyways, one of the girls, lives in the eastern part of US & has a HUGE Odiya friends circle who meet almost every week for a party or picnic or potluck and she makes these yummy (almost) contemporary style Odiya food recipes that it makes me want to go back to the east coast & make her my sister. Yes, I used to live there & the first chance I got I left because of the harsh winters. I just could not bear the mere thought of getting up at 7am in the morning & spe
Read more

Chicken Besara

-
Image
We odiyas have grown up with the idea of mustard paste being added to cook fish & shrimp & veggies.. but never ever had I imagined that I could use the same concept (little tricked & changed of course to fit the bill) for chicken too.. It was a fine Saturday mid-day when the craving of having something non-veg spicy came into my mind (errrr.. my stomach..) .. The freezer had some chicken drummets from store.. which were shrieking out to be used... And just a few days back.. I had seen a post somewhere about using mustard paste with chicken gravy.. I thought I should totally try it... This was new to me..and I must confess the gravy was a super hit... we ate double the amount of white rice .. and saved some for later too.. Everyone who loves chicken and mustard paste should totally try this.. and Enjoy with white fluffy rice.. :) What I used Around 1.5 Lbs of chicken drummets (small chicken legs) 2 table spoons of black & yellow mustard seeds 1 table spoon o
Read more