Paneer Cake or Baked Cottage Cheese or Chana Poda

Take a heavy bottomed vessel, add milk

Bring it to boil and keep stirring to avoid burning of milk

Once the milk comes to a boil, simmer the gas, start adding the lemon juice and keep stirring (if required, add more lemon juice) cook for a few seconds until the milk solids gets separated from the whey. Switch off the heat.

Pour the curdled milk to an already lined muslin cloth over a strainer, squeeze out all the whey water then rinse chena under the tap water as much as possible. If you do not rinse the chena or paneer you will get the smell of lemon.

Now hang the cloth covered chena or paneer on tap for 30 minutes. It will help to squeeze more water from the chena or paneer.

Make sure you do not drain it for too long and the chena does not get too dry. It should be moist enough to knead smoothly.

Now your chena or paneer or cottage cheese is ready. Now we will make Chena Poda or Paneer Cake or Baked Cottage Cheese by using this homemade Chena or paneer.

On a big plate, take homemade Chena or paneer, knead it very well until you find no lumps in it.

Add suji and powdered sugar and rest of the ingredients, mix well, mash it thoroughly using hands to form a soft dough.

To get a caramelized effect on top, apply one teaspoon of ghee to the baking tin. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar on it, hold the tin with pot holder slightly above gas stove for a few minutes to melt the sugar. Spread the melted sugar evenly.

Then Pour the chenna mix over the caramelized sugar.

Use a pressure cooker that's at least 3 litres, but 5 litres is a good size (what I would recommend).

Remove the gasket (the rubber insulation thing) on the lid of your pressure cooker. This is an important step. You also do not need the whistle.

My pressure cooker came with a stand that goes at the bottom of the cooker pan. It distributes heat more evenly and is especially useful when baking in the pressure cooker. If you do not have, try to find a substitute, like small steel bowl

You need to pre-heat the pressure cooker. For this, just place the lid (without gasket) on the pressure cooker and cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes.

Now keep the flame on low and place the aluminium vessel with the cheese batter carefully inside the cooker. Close the cooker without gasket and weight. Cook for 30 minutes till done.

Check by inserting a knife or toothpick in the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, means it’s done, otherwise cook for some more time.

Cool it for 2 to 3 hours and then turn it upside down. Slice and serve. It stays fresh for a week in the refrigerator.