CHENNA KHEER

Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh has extreme cold and hot weather. During summer weekend outings, we would stop by at this ‘Parag milk’ outlet (local milk dairy in Lucknow) which had a variety of milk products like dahi, flavoured milk and so on. That was where I tasted chenna kheer for the first time and it gained a special place in my heart since then.

I would describe chenna kheer as pure goodness or unadulterated love for milk. It tastes heaven as far as milk lovers are concerned.

Homemade chenna gives the best result, packed paneer or cottage cheese can also be used. Packaged paneer blocks can be grated or cut into minute cubes before adding to kheer. Refer to my previous post for homemade chenna. Cow milk or buffalo milk can be used.

One important thing to do is to put the chenna under running water to get rid of all the lemon juice or vinegar. If this is not done properly, there are chances of the splitting the kheer.

Recipe for Chenna kheer

Ingredients for Chenna kheer

• 1 + 1 litres of milk
• 80 gms khoya p
• 100 gms sugar
• ½ tsp cardamom (crushed)
• Juice of one lemon or vinegar
• Dryfruits (optional)

How to make

First put one litre of milk on medium heat. Bring it to boil and simmer till it reduces to half.

Meanwhile, heat another litre of milk for chenna. Refer previous post for how to make chenna at home.

Crumble the chenna and keep aside.

Once the milk is reduced, add the grated or crumbled khoya. Stir until the khoya combines well with the milk.

Add the chenna, simmer for 2 minutes. Dry fruits can also be added at this stage (optional).

Add sugar and cardamom. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve warm or chilled.

MAKHANA KHEER

Makhana or phool makhana or foxnuts are puffed lotus seeds. Rich in proteins and minerals, makhana when combined with milk makes creamy and tasty kheer. Kheer is an indian dessert mainly prepared in north India.

Makhana kheer is prepared while observing fast for nine days of navratre. Kheer is a dessert prepared on almost every auspicious occasion. Makhana kheer is one of the most popular kheer varieties.

The quantity of sugar is just enough as we like it less sweet. Adjust the sugar according to your liking. I haven’t used nuts in the recipe, feel free to add nuts as per your preference. Saute the nuts in ghee on low heat before adding to the kheer.

This dessert is extremely simple to make, rich and creamy in taste. The process is similar to any other type of kheer preparation.

Recipe for Makhana kheer

Ingredients for Makhana kheer

• ½ litre full fat milk
• 2 cups makhane or foxnuts
• 2 tbsp sugar
• ¼ tsp crushed cardamom or green elaichi
• 1 tsp ghee or clarified butter
• 2 tbsp cashew nuts (chopped and fried in ghee)

 How to make

Roast the makhanas in ghee on low heat until it slightly changes its colour. This will take 4 to 5 minutes. Keep stirring continuously as it tends to stick and burn very fast. Keep aside to cool down.

Roughly crush or break 1½ cups of makhanas in pieces. Preserve ½ cup whole makhanas.

Bring the milk to boil in a thick bottom pan. Let it simmer for 7 to 8 minutes on low heat.

Add the crushed and whole makhanas. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Now add crushed cardamom and sugar. Stir till sugar dissolves completely.

Simmer for 3 minutes.

Garnish with fried cashew nuts or rose petals.

RASMALAI FROM SCRATCH

Rasmalai is a soft, spongy, juicy dessert. It is the most popular Bengali sweet, made with chenna or homemade cottage cheese and soaked in saffron and cardamom flavoured milk.

The process of making rasmalai is very simple, but it does require an honest effort. No substitutes or shortcuts work. I have done a number of trails and couldn’t understand where I was going wrong.
Here is the secret to a perfect rasgulla for rasmalai.

Firstly, perfect chenna results into perfect rasgullas. The chenna shouldn’t be too dry or too moist. Refer to my previous post to make chenna at home. Secondly, it requires a good ten minutes of kneading or rubbing the chenna. For best results this step should be done with hands only.

Cow’s milk is considered to be the best. I have tried full fat milk, toned milk and cow’s milk, the results are almost the same. One liter milk will yield 12 pieces of rasmalai.

Recipe for Rasmalai

Ingredients for chenna

• 1 litre milk
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar

Ingredients for Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups water

Ingredients for Ras or Rabdi

• 1 litre
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Few strands of saffron or kesar
• ¼ tsp cardamom or green elaichi (crushed)
• 8 to 10 pistachios (for garnish)
• A pinch of lemon yellow food colour (optional)

How to make chenna

Bring milk to boil. Lower the heat. Add lemon juice or vinegar and give it a gentle stir. Wait for a minute.

If the milk doesn’t curdle add more lemon juice.

Remove from heat when you can see the curdled milk and clear whey separated.

Pass it through a sieve lined with muslin cloth. Wash the chenna under running water.

This will prevent from overcooking of chenna and also remove the tartness of lemon juice.

Squeeze to get rid of the moisture.

Remember too less or too much moisture is not good for Bengali sweets.

Take large plate and knead the chenna by rubbing it between the palm and the plate as shown in the picture.

Continue this process for at least 10 minutes. The fat in the chenna will help to turn it into a soft dough.

For testing, take a small portion and roll it to form a ball. If it doesn’t have cracks it is ready or knead for few more minutes.

How to make rasgullas

Meanwhile, for sugar syrup put the sugar and water in a deep pan and bring it to a boil.

Divide the chenna dough into 12 portions.

Roll them between the palms and flatten with slight pressure.

As the syrup begins to boil drop the chenna balls one by one such that the boiling doesn’t subside.

Let it boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Put it on medium high heat so that the boiling continues all throughout.

After 20 minutes the rasgullas will swell up to double the size.

Let the rasgullas rest in the syrup for 5 to 10 minutes.

Take some ice cubes in a bowl.

Transfer the rasgullas in the ice bowl with some sugar syrup.

Let it come to room temperature. Keep it aside for 20 minutes.

How to make Ras

Put some strands of kesar in warm milk and set aside for few minutes.

Rub the strands lightly.

Heat the milk for ras.

Simmer on medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes. Here we do not want the milk to reduce much. We want the ras to be light and runny.

Add crushed cardamom and kesar to the milk.

Add sugar and lemon yellow food colour (optional).

Stir till the sugar dissolves.

Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes on low heat. Remove from heat

Now gently squeeze the rasgullas and put them in the ras.

Once the ras comes to room temperature, put it in refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.

Serve chilled.