November 26th is International Cake Day. Today, we find a large variety of modern cakes. But I want you to know about this very old and traditional cake from Odisha, India – Chenna Poda – Burnt Indian Cheesecake!
Chenna Poda vs Basque Burnt Cheesecake
Chenna Poda literally means burnt cheese. Sounds familiar to Basque Burnt Cheesecake? Well, both are quite different in taste but they do have many similarities as well. Firstly, both are made with cheese that is formed from curdling the milk or cream. Furthermore, both use a form of flour – all purpose flour in Basque while semolina in Chenna Poda. And finally both are burnt!
Important difference is Chenna Poda is eggless and does not need cream like other cheesecakes. It uses spice like cardamom to make it aromatic while Basque cheesecake uses vanilla.
History
As the history goes, Chenna Poda was created by Sudarshan Sahu when he accidentally kept sweetened cottage cheese on a warm flame. Later when he found it, it was burnt and caramelized due to the sugar. And that’s how this original Indian cheesecake was born.
Enough talking about Chenna Poda! Let’s make some.
Preparation Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- Milk – 2 liter or 0.5 gallon
- Semolina – 4tbsp (1 tbsp for every half liter)
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
- Vinegar – 4 tbsp or use as required for making the chenna (alternate is lemon juice)
- Ghee – 1 tbsp
- Salt – 1 1/2 cup (not to be used as ingredient!)
Steps:
- Bring milk to a boil.
- Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and start adding vinegar or lemon juice.
- Milk will slowly curdle. As the whey water turns clear, turn off the heat. This is when you know chenna or cottage cheese is done.
- Next, strain the chenna and keep some of the whey water for later use.
- After that let the chenna cool just enough so that it can be mashed up by hand but don’t let it cool completely, otherwise it will be hard.
- Add 4 tbsp of semolina, 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder, 1 cup sugar and 1 tbsp of ghee to the chenna.
- Mash well with your hands till the sugar mixes completely.
- Add the whey water 1 tbsp at a time. Mix in between. It should have a cake batter consistency but not too runny.
- At this time, add any dry fruits of your choice – almonds, cashews, pistachios or raisins. I personally prefer it nut-free.
- In a deep vessel, add 1 1/2 cup of salt. Then add a stand on it. Cover and let it preheat for 5 mins while we prepare the cake pan. See below for step-by-step pictures.
- Apply ghee all around a cake pan. I have used a 6″ cake pan. Line it with parchment/butter paper. Apply some more ghee on it. This ensures that the cake will come out easily.
- Pour the batter into the pan and slowly place it on the stand in the pre-heated vessel.
- Cook for 55 mins on low-medium flame.
- Check around the 50 mins mark.
- You should see a burnt brown color on the cake and around the edges and the toothpick should come out clean as well.
- Carefully remove the cake pan as it will be very hot.
- Let it cool completely before removing it from the cake pan and flipping it on a plate or cutting it. Otherwise it will break.
Step By Step Pictures:
Chenna Poda Ingredients 
Vessel to Bake the Cheese 
Cheesecake Batter 
Ready To Bake 
Golden on Top – Done 
Let it cool down
Plating
After the cheesecake has completely cooled down, run a butter knife around the edges of the cake pan. This will loosen the cake from the pan and it can come out easily. Flip it on the serving plate. Remove all the parchment paper. It is ready to eat!
A detailed video is available on my Instagram account. Check it out. Also, you can always leave a comment here or on Instagram, if you need some more information.
Few things to note:
- I have never made this in an oven and I am not sure if you can get the same burnt sides. But I will update this blog with my findings.
- Final note – Do not use ricotta cheese as it does not give the same taste and flavor.
Make this and enjoy our own Indian Burnt Cheesecake!
