My friend Sanjay Bhandari refers to Paneer as the “National Food of Haryana”. Similarly, Bengalis like to claim proprietary rights over Chhena. But this claim amounts to an act of culinary imperialism, much like their claims on Rosogolla.
But to mention Paneer and Chhena in the same breath would be as much of a blasphemy as comparing a horse and a goat, although both are quadrupeds (to borrow an expression from an article on Bengali food by the great Indian litterateur, Buddhadev Bose).
In terms of chemical composition, Paneer and Chhena are similar. Both are essentially soft, uncultured cottage cheese - consisting primarily of casein extracted from milk by curdling and coagulation. But the difference lies in the process and the character of the end product. Chhena is made simply by eliminating the whey, but still retains some of the liquid, making it prone to crumble. Paneer is further processed to take out all the water to make it firm. So Paneer can be cut into blocks and pieces. Whereas Chhena has to be made into balls or needs addition of ingredients like semolina to give it more hardness. Chhena is usually made of Cow’s milk, and so has low fat. Paneer is made from full-fat Buffalo milk and has more fat content.
While some form of lactic acid or lemon is used to curdle the milk for Chhena, Paneer is made from curd, which makes it creamier. Paneer is more versatile and can be used in a variety of preparations and consumed in multiple forms. It also has a longer shelf-life. However, Chhena, with its higher moisture content, has to be consumed much sooner and is, therefore, used in fewer preparations. Bengalis sometimes offer it to babies and convalescent patients – mixed with sugar – as a source of protein. Weight watchers have it as a health-food.
Paneer, it is claimed, existed since Vedic times and there is evidence to indicate that it was known to the people of the Indus Valley civilization. According to Sonal Ved, author of the book - Whose Samosa is it anyway? - the roots of the word Paneer can be found in the Turkish word Peynir.
Chhena, in its present avatar, is believed to have been brought to Bengal by the Portuguese traders who landed around the region of Bandel - a little North of Kolkata - and from there, it spread to parts of eastern India. Ved contests this theory, but I shall put my money on it. They first taught the natives the Dutch way of making cheese. From this emerged, arguably, the only indigenous Indian Cheese, called Bandel Cheese. But we shall store that for another day. Chhena evolved later as a cottage cheese and got absorbed in the local cuisine. It eventually gained popularity beyond Bengal in present day Odisha, laying the foundation of the Battle of Rosogolla.
But the hero of this piece is not those round balls of Chhena dipped in sugar syrup or gur. It is a lesser known Odia sweet (till not too long ago, almost unknown outside of the state) called Chenna Poda. However, it is considered to be of more recent origin than the Rosogolla, which is traced back to the 15th century AD towards the beginning of Jagannath cult. Chhenna Poda was an accidental discovery of a confectioner Sudarshan Sahu in Dashapalla near Puri - as late as 1947.
However, it has all the ingredients of a classic and can easily pass off as the food of Gods. I shall spare the gentle readers the detailed story of Chhena Poda, which they can easily find on the internet.
It is a baked dessert that the knowledgeable compare with Basque Cheesecake. However, I think this comparison does injustice to Chhena Poda, which is truly unique and has a character of its own. Chena Poda has to be made from fresh, home-made Chhena (not commercially produced stuff), which is well-kneaded with sugar, semolina and flavoured with cardamom, cashew nuts and raisins and is baked for several hours until it browns. It derives its flavours primarily from the caramelised sugar. A North Indian equivalent of it can be the baked Kalakand sold as Milk Cake. Bengalis have tried to compete, with Baked Sandesh, but nothing comes close to the sublime Chhenna Poda.
Other than Chhena Poda - other Chhena based sweets include Chhena Gaja, Rasabali and Chhena Jilli. On a flying trip to Balasore last week, I succumbed to the temptation of trying all of them, ignoring my Diabetologist’s injunction. That all of them were good to die for was my justification.
In general, Odia Sweets are under-rated and poorly marketed. Of late, there has been an attempt to popularise Chhena Poda. Nayagarh District has already applied for GI Tag for Chhena Poda, and April 11th, the birth anniversary of Sudarshan Sahu, has been declared as “World Chhena Poda” Day. That is a good decision. Instead of fighting a losing battle over Rosogolla - Odisha would do well to take its true original creation, Chhena Poda, to the world.
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