Chhanar Payesh/Paneer Payasam
Diwali, a celebration of the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. Wish you a blessed Diwali and spread sparkles of peace and goodwill. Fortunately, this Diwali being on the weekend we are able to celebrate it on the day. It is bustling mornings from marinating the meat to preparing the appetizers. Nevertheless, when a scrumptious spread is the scheme of the day, I always begin with desserts. So, channar payesh is the dessert of the day.
Gourmet desserts remain indebted to the Portuguese for introducing channa in Bengali cuisine. Nonetheless, the moiras also shouldered the responsibility of creating masterpieces from channa. Rosogolla, chamcham, Pantua, sandesh….uhhhh.. there are many. Channa based sweets of Bengal have created trademarks for itself. While chaler payesh is believed to be the original form of payesh, channar payesh is considered to be a rendition of Portuguese introduction.
Chhanar Payesh
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Bengali (Indian)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes+waiting time
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 4.5 Litres of full fat milk
- 4 tablespoons of lemon juice/vinegar
- 1 cup of condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder
- 1½ teaspoon of rose water
- 3 tablespoons of chopped almonds for garnishing
Directions
- Bring 3 litres of milk to boil. As it comes to a boil, add the lemon juice and keep stirring till the milk curdles.
- Strain and wash the chhana properly with cold water.
- Tie the chhana in a muslin cloth, squeeze all the water from the chhana and hang it for about 30 minutes.
- Take out the chhana in a bowl and crumble it with your hands to break all the lumps
- Boil the remaining of the milk in a thick bottomed pan. Add the cardamom powder and let the milk simmer on low heat till reduced to almost two third. (Keep stirring the milk at intervals to prevent scorching of milk)
- Stir in the condensed milk to the simmering reduced milk and also add the cardamom powder.
- Add the mashed channa, give it a stir and let it stew for about 5-7 minutes. Turn off the flame.
- Add the rose water and let to cool. (You can also leave it in refrigerator for a couple of hours)
- Garnish the chhanar payesh with chopped pistachios and serve.
Notes (Tips and tricks)
- You can use any nut of your choice.
- Remember to wash the channa properly. If the whey remains in the chhana, it will result in curdling of the milk while you cook the chhana in the milk.
- If you are in doubt about the chhana, take a tablespoon of chhana in a bowl and to it add the simmering milk mixture. If the milk curdles you cannot add the chhana to the simmering milk but if it does not you are good to go.
Step by step instructions to prepare chhanar payesh
Bring 3 litres of milk to boil. As it comes to a boil, add the lemon juice and keep stirring till the milk curdles.
Strain and wash the chhana properly with cold water.
Tie the chhana in a muslin cloth, squeeze all the water from the chhana and hang it for about 30 minutes.
Take out the chhana in a bowl and crumble it with your hands to break all the lumps
Boil the remaining of the milk in a thick bottomed pan. Add the cardamom powder and let the milk simmer on low heat till reduced to almost two third. (Keep stirring the milk at intervals to prevent scorching of milk)
Stir in the condensed milk to the simmering reduced milk .
Add the mashed channa, give it a stir and let it stew for about 5-7 minutes. Turn off the flame.
Add the rose water and let to cool. (You can also leave it in refrigerator for a couple of hours). Garnish the chhanar payesh with chopped pistachios and serve.
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