Chena Pora Recipe Chenna plant

Chena poda recipe with step by step pictures. Chena Poda or Chenna Poda is one of the most popular sweet dishes of the beautiful state of Odisha. It is made with chenna or fresh cheese, sugar and flavorings. The ingredient list of Chena Poda recipe is minimal, but then, it takes some time to prepare as it has to be baked. The classic preparation actually uses an oven (small clay/brick oven). Since at home, you bake it in an oven, it can also be referred to as a cheese cake.

Chena poda literally translates to roasted cheese in English language. It also says that Chena Poda is the favorite sweet of Lord Jagannath (the presiding deity of the Puri Jagannath Temple in Odisha). Chena Poda is also prepared during festivals like Diwali or Durga Puja.

A few years ago I received some recipe requests to share the Chapan Bhog recipe (56 dishes) offered to Lord Jagannath. I have a complete list of foods and plan to add them one by one. So the best way is to start with a sweet food and that too Lord Jagannath’s favorite sweet.

Making chenna poda is very easy. You will be amazed by the simplicity and ease factor of this recipe. Unlike other baking recipes that involve two to three steps, this is a one-bowl recipe.

Also, things go wrong when baking cakes, but you can’t go wrong when making this delicious cheesecake. This is the feature of this recipe. This recipe can be halved, doubled and tripled in quantity.

You can use fresh paneer or fresh chenna to make chenna poda. You can even use store-bought cheese. I used cheese that was made a day before. Although freshly prepared chennai can also be used.

I’ve made this recipe a few times and it’s been good every time. Sugar caramelizes during baking and gives such a good taste. I referred to a few cookbooks when I started making recipes. Once I got the hang of the recipe, I basically adapted it for our tastes. The recipe can easily be halved, doubled or tripled.

In Odisha, Chena Poda is baked in sal leaves which gives Chena Poda a distinctive taste. Since I had banana leaves, I used banana leaves for baking. Although you can even skip the banana leaves and just bake in a pan.

You can bake chenna poda in the oven or even in a pressure cooker. It takes 25 to 35 minutes to bake Chena Poda in a pressure cooker. If you want to use pressure cooker, here is the method- Cooker Cake

Serve Chenna Poda as a sweet snack or dessert after a meal. You can even offer it as bhog or naivadyama to your deity.

If you plan to offer chena poda to your deity, use homemade cheese instead of store-bought cheese and make it with devotion and love.

Step by step guide

How to make Chenna Pora

1. First line a baking pan with some chopped banana leaves. Grease the banana leaves with some ghee. You can also use butter paper or parchment paper instead of banana leaves. Or you can skip everything and grease the pan all over with ghee.

Also preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

2. Then take 250 grams of fresh paneer or chenna and grind it very well.

3. Then add ½ cup sugar. You can also use half a cup jaggery powder instead of sugar.

4. Mix sugar with chenna with clean hands.

5. Then continue to mash and knead the paneer or chenna as you would knead the chapati dough.

6. The cheese mixture should be loose, light and have the consistency of a cake batter. The lighter and softer the consistency, the better the taste of Chenna Poda.

You can see the continuation below. I did not add any milk or water. If the mixture looks dry, you can add a few tablespoons of milk or water. Some amount of fat will come out while mixing the chenna and that is okay.

7. Once you get a batter like consistency to the cheese mixture, then add ½ tsp cardamom powder and ½ tbsp rice flour.

Optionally a pinch of baking soda can also be added, but doesn’t make a difference. Instead of rice flour, you can use mihi rava (semolina). Some chopped dry fruits like cashews, almonds and raisins can also be added.

Chenna poda baking

8. Pour the chickpea mixture into the pan. Shake the pan gently so that the chenna powder mixture is spread evenly. Level the top with a spatula.

9. Place the pan in the oven and bake the chena poda for 30 to 45 minutes. If using OTG, use toast mode and center the pan. Bake the chenna poda until the top crust turns a deep golden color.

Oven times vary, so keep checking. Some ovens may take even less time to bake this cheesecake. I am giving an average time that will work for most ovens.

10. Once done remove the chickpeas from the oven.

11. Then test with a bamboo skewer or toothpick and it should come out clean. There should be no sticky batter on the toothpick.

12. Allow the chickpeas to cool completely in the pan. Then remove it.

13. You can serve chenna poda in pieces. Leftovers can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days.

14. Serve chena poda as a dessert after a meal or as a sweet snack.

More Diwali is sweet

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This chena poda recipe post was updated from the archives first published in October 2017 and republished in January 2023.