Chena Pais

The last post for Diwali this year- Chena Pais! If you have been following my posts for quiet some time now, you would have discovered my great love for Bengali sweets 😍 All that creamy and melt-in-the-mouth sweets…Making me drool right now 😋! Rasmalai is my most favourite and one dish which greatly resembles it is chena pais. Most people get confused between the two. They are very alike but not same. Apart from being smaller in size, chena pais, after being added to the sweet milk are cooked for some time, unlike rasmalai. These tiny cute balls in sweetened, thickened milk are great for any milk based sweet lovers. Again, the chopped nuts and the saffron make this dish tastier. Serve chilled and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

Milk- 1 litre

Lemon juice – from one full lemon

Sugar- 1 cup

Water- 1 cup

Full cream milk- 1 litre

Milkmaid- ½ tin (200 gms)

Saffron- a pinch

Cardamom powder- ¼ tsp

Cashews- 6 to 8 (cut into small pieces)

Pista- 6 to 8 (cut into small pieces)

Almonds- 6 to 8 (cut into small pieces)

Method:

1.         Boil 1 litre of milk in a vessel.

2.         When it starts boiling start adding the lemon juice. Add a spoon first and see if the milk curdles. If not, add little more.

3.         Keep boiling the milk in medium flame. Within three to four minutes the milk will fully curdle. Switch off flame.

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

5.         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 chena.

6.         Immediately, when the chena is still warm, transfer it 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.

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

8.         Meanwhile, start making very small balls with the chena (size of kabuli chana). By the time you finish making the balls, the sugar would have dissolved.

9.         Add all the chena balls to the sugar syrup. Close the lid. Cook for one whistle. Switch off immediately. Let the pressure release on its own.

10.      The mini rasgulla balls would have doubled in size. Transfer to another container immediately. Keep aside until use.

11.      Heat full cream milk in a heavy bottomed pan or kadai. Let it boil in medium flame and take care that the milk doesn’t get burnt at the bottom.

12.      Soak saffron in a table spoon of hot milk. Keep ready.

13.      Keep stirring the milk at regular intervals and let it reduce to half the quantity.

14.      Now add milkmaid and saffron soaked milk to the boiling milk. Stir well and let it boil for sometime.

15.      Squeeze the sugar syrup from the mini rasgullas and add it to the boiling milk. Cook over low flame for around 5 to 7 minutes.

16.      Add all the chopped nuts and cardamom powder. Keep in low flame for two minutes.

17.      Switch off flame. Let it cool down. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

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 litre of milk in a large vessel

add a tablespoon of lemon juice to 

the boiling milk. let it boil over 

medium flame for 3 to 4 minutes 

and curdle the milk

strain the curdled milk in a muslin cloth 

 wash the chena with cold water 

to remove the smell of lemon

transfer to a plate and start pressing 

with the edge of your palm

keep pressing for 10 minutes

make very small  balls 

boil 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water

 in a pressure pan. after the sugar dissolves 

add the chena balls to the sugar syrup

pressure cook for 1 whistle 

let the pressure release on its own

the balls would double up size
keep aside until use

heat full cream milk in a kadai
keep stirring and let it reduce to half

now add saffron soaked milk and
milk maid to the milk. mix well and
let it boil for some time

 add the mini rasgullas to the milk

let it cook in the milk for around

 5 to 7 minutes, on low flame.

add all the chopped nuts and cardamom powder

 and cook for 2 minutes on low flame.

switch off flame. cool completely.

chill and serve.