Cham Cham

Diwali is round the corner and here is one amazing sweet- Cham Cham!

If you guys remember, I had made a Bengali sweets platter for the state of Bengal for the Taste of Indian states series. So, here is the first sweet- Cham Cham. I had to try really hard to stop myself from sharing the recipes before Diwali 😂 Because this dessert is simply amazing! I had already shared the recipe for rasagulla. This dish also similar but better- it comes with a filling! The outer is rasagulla in oval shape. The filling is sweetened khova. Trust me- that’s double awesome! We finish it by coating it with desiccated coconut and topping with tutti frutti. Serve chilled and enjoy!

A few other Bengali sweets-

Rasagulla https://laksmiscookbook.blogspot.com/2018/10/rasgulla.html

Rasamalai https://laksmiscookbook.blogspot.com/2018/10/rasmalai.html

 Preparation time: 15 to 20 mins| Cooking time: 30 to 40 minutes

Course: Dessert| Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients:

Milk- 1 litre

Lemon juice- from one full lemon

Sugar- I cup

Water- 1 cup

Desiccated coconut- ¼ cup

Tutti frutti- 3 tblsp

For stuffing:

Ghee- 1 tsp

Milk- ¼ cup

Cream- 2 tblsp

Milk powder- ½ cup

Saffron- a big pinch (soak in 2tblsp of hot milk)

Powdered sugar- 1 tblsp

 Method:

1.      Boil 1 litre of milk in a large vessel. When it starts boiling start adding the lemon juice. Add a spoon first and see if the milk curdles. If not, add a little more.

2.      Keep boiling the milk over medium flame. Within two to three minutes the milk will fully curdle. Now switch off the flame.

3.      Use a muslin cloth and strain the whey water. Keep the whey water aside.

4.      Pour a glass of cold water over the chena (paneer obtained from curdling the milk) to remove the smell of lemon. Squeeze the muslin cloth and remove the excess water from the chena. Take care that some amount of moisture is still there in the chena.

5.      Immediately, when the chena is still warm, transfer the chena to a plate. Use the edge of your palm and start pressing the chena. This will make it soft. You need to keep pressing for 10 minutes.

6.      Add a cup of sugar and a cup of water to a cooker pan. Let it boil in low flame until the sugar dissolves.

7.      Meanwhile start making oval shapes with the chena. By the time you finish making the shapes, the sugar would have dissolved.

8.      Add the oval shaped chena balls to the sugar syrup. Close the lid and cook for one whistle over medium flame. Switch off immediately.

9.      Let the pressure release on its own. Open the lid and immediately transfer the oval shaped chena balls to another container.

10.   Now, let’s prepare the sweetened kova (stuffing) for cham cham.

11.   Add a tblsp of ghee to a nonstick kadai. To that add ¼ cup of milk and stir once.

12.   Now add ½ cup of milk powder and mix well. Once it thickens, add the saffron soaked in milk and mix well.

13.   To this add 1 tblsp of powdered sugar and stir continuously. The mixture will thicken and start leaving the kadai. Switch off flame and let it cool.

14.   Now remove the cooked paneer balls from the sugar syrup and make a slit in the middle (see pic below). Stuff it with the sweetened kova.

15.   Roll it over desiccated coconut and garnish with tutti frutti.

16.   Cham cham is ready to eat. You can also refrigerate and use it later.

Notes:

·        If the mentioned amount of lemon juice is not enough to curdle the milk, feel free to add more.

·        Don’t throw away the whey water. It is very nutritious. We can use it for making dough for chapattis, cooking pastas and soups.

·        When making the oval shaped chena balls, make sure there are no cracks. Or else the rasgulllas might break while being cooked.

·        Cook only for one whistle and immediately switch off. After the pressure releases on its own, transfer the paneer balls to another vessel immediately. Or else, it might turn hard.

Step by step pictures

 

 boil 1 liter milk in a large vessel

when it starts boiling add lemon juice 

 boil on medium flame for 3 to 4 

minutes and let the milk curdle

 strain the curdled milk using a muslin cloth

keep the whey water aside and use it later

 as mentioned in the notes section

 pour a glass of cold water on the chena 

to remove the smell of lemon

squeeze the muslin cloth and remove excess water

 transfer the chena to a plate

start pressing the chena with the edge of palm

keep pressing for 10 minutes

this makes the chena soft

 now roll the chena into oval shapes

 boil 1 cup suagr and 1 cup water in a

 pressure cooker. once the sugar dissolves,

add the chena balls into the sugar syrup.

close the lid and pressure cook for

 one whistle on medium flame. 

immediately switch off flame.

let the pressure release on its own.

then immediately transfer the chena balls

 to another container. keep aside.

to prepare the sweetened kova

add a tblsp of ghee in a nonstick vessel

 now add 1/4 cup milk to the ghee

mix well

 to that add 1/2 cup of milk powder

stir well

once it thickens, add saffron soaked in milk

mix well 

add a tblsp of powdered sugar to this

stir well and let it thicken 

 when it starts leaving the pan, 

switch off flame. let it cool

remove the chena balls from the sugar syrup

make a slit in the middle as shown in the pic 

 stuff it with sweetened kova

 stuffing all done

 roll them over desiccated coconut

garnish with tutti frutti

serve chilled.