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Chhena Poda, Reduced Sugar

Odisha's "burnt cheese": sweetened chhena baked until a caramelised crust forms over a soft, fragrant centre — India's own cheesecake. This version uses a third of the usual sugar.

Region

Odisha (Nayagarh)

Status

Adaptation — sugar reduced by about two-thirds; oven-baked

Diet label

Strictly vegetarian, egg-free

Time

Prep 40 min · Bake 50 min · Cool 1 h

Serves

6 (1 wedge, about 60 g, each)

Difficulty

Moderate

Good for

Festivals, gifting, make-ahead dessert

Tags

Good source · Soy-free · Whey-free · Meal-prep friendly

Allergens

Milk, tree nuts (cashew), gluten (semolina)

Nutrition (estimated)

Calories

185 kcal

Protein

9 g

Carbs

14 g

Fat

11 g

Fibre

<1 g

Headline values are per serving, as written.

Good source (just under 5 g per 100 kcal before rounding). Traditional chhena poda often uses around 150 g sugar for this amount of chhena; this uses 50 g. Chhena values estimated from the milk used, as in DS3. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 15 Oct 2026.

Ingredients

• Chhena from 2 litres toned milk (about 300 g; method in DS3)
• 50 g sugar (or jaggery) · 20 g fine semolina (rava) · ½ tsp cardamom powder
• 10 g cashews, chopped · 10 g raisins
• 5 g ghee for greasing

Method

1. Make the chhena (DS3, steps 1–2), keeping it slightly moist.
2. Knead chhena with sugar for 5 minutes until smooth. Mix in semolina, cardamom, cashews and raisins. Rest 15 minutes so the semolina hydrates.
3. Grease a 15 cm cake tin or steel bowl with ghee; line the base with a banana leaf if available.
4. Press in the mixture and level the top.
5. Bake at 180 °C for 45–50 minutes, until deep brown on top and at the edges and a knife in the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool in the tin for 1 hour; turn out and cut into 6 wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Protein optimisation

• Chhena supplies 8.5 g per serving; semolina and cashew 0.5 g.
• Boost: replace the semolina with 20 g skimmed milk powder (+1 g protein per serving; gluten-free; slightly softer).

Variations, serving and storage

• Regional: Odia temple style — sweetened with jaggery and baked slowly in a wood-fired oven, wrapped in sal leaves.
• Substitution: 300 g crumbled paneer, kneaded until smooth, in place of fresh chhena (higher fat).
• Storage: 3 days refrigerated; tastes even better the next day.
• Food safety: refrigerate within 2 hours once cool.
• Meal prep: excellent.

Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com