Name: Chenna Jhilli recipe by Alka Jena at BetterButter
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 20
Ingredients: 250 gms Chenna; 1 tsp Semolina; 1 tsp plain flour; A pinch of cardamom powder; 2 cups sugar; 2 cups Water; 5 to 6 crushed cardamoms; Ghee for deep frying; Pistachios for garnishing

ABOUT Chenna Jhilli RECIPE

Chenna Jhilli is one such signature sweet dish which owes its origin to a small village en route to the famous Sun Temple of Konark in Nimapada in Puri District of Odisha. This small town is lined up with shops selling Chenna Jhillis and snacks. Chenna Jhilli is made from fresh Chenna or cottage cheese and then fried in ghee and soaked in light sugar syrup. When you put this sweet into your mouth, you can experience a burst of flavor from the sweetness of chenna and the cardamom flavor sugar syrup. Despite gaining a wide popularity among Odia people and the visitors who flocks in thousands everyday to visit the famous Sun Temple at Konark, it is still a unknown sweets among many. This sweet does not call for any complex method of preparation except the Chena needs to be kneaded to a very fine dough to five the Chenna Jhilli a perfect shape.

Instructions

Boil 2 liters of milk and when it starts to boil, lower the gas and pour in 1 tbsp of vinegar. You will start to notice the milk to curdle and the chena being separated from the greenish whey.
Pour it over a muslin cloth and clean with cold water for the vinegar smell to vanish.
Hang it on a place for minimum 2 to 3 hours so that all the water drains away.
Now add plain flour, semolina and cardamom powder to the fresh chenna and knead with your palms on a flat surface till you get a smooth texture. This is the most important step in this which will take minimum 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile boil sugar and water in a pan and when it starts to boil, lower the heat and add crushed cardamom to it and keep boiling to get a thin sugar syrup.
Divide the dough into equal parts. I made 20 balls out of these.
Slowly roll this ball into a log shape using your palm and give it a heart shape by overlapping the both the ends. This is the stage where if your chena is not kneaded enough will crack.
That means you have to knead it further to get that smooth consistency.
Heat ghee in a kadhai and deep fry these chenna Jhillis on a medium fire so that you can get a beautiful dark rich colour.
Remove from oil and spread it on a tissue paper and then add it to the sugar syrup and let it soak in the sugar syrup for minimum 30 minutes.
Sprinkle some pistachios on top and enjoy this sweet delicacy from my beautiful State Odisha.

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