Kheera / Chhena Payesh / Paneer Kheer

A quick and easy recipe of Kheera or sweet Pudding with Milk and Chhena, a Odisha speciality and one of the Mahaprasads offered to Lord Jagannath in Puri.

Every Odia food speciality is very close to my heart, the mention of each invokes nostalgic feelings and ruffles up beautiful childhood memories. The Paneer Kheer or Kheera as known in my home state Odisha is a Jagannath Puri speciality and is offered as one of the 56 prasads or Chappan Bhog to Lord Jagannath. Kheera is made from Chhena and cardamom flavoured sweet Milk, a sweet, thick, creamy, grainy Pudding with dry fruits and sold in small earthen pots.

This sweet delight is also known as Chhena Payesh not to be confused with the Bengal’ s Channar Payesh. The Channar Payesh of Bengal is similar to the KheerSagar of Odisha ….small rasgulla balls in sweetened thickened milk very much similar to the Angoori Rasmalai.

This creamy dessert was on my to post on blog list since a long time and what better day to post than this day for the 122 nd Foodie Monday Bloghop for the theme Odisha Recipes. Chhena or Paneer or Cottage Cheese is the  base and the most important ingredient for making any kind of sweet in Odisha.  Chhena Poda, Chhena Jhilapi, Chenna Gaja, Chhena Jhili, Chhena kheeri or Payesh, KheerSagar, Rasagulla or Kheer Mohan etc are few of the popular recipes of my home state. For more Odisharecipes you can check out my recipe index.

The Kheera available in Puri, the abode of Lord Jagannath are of two varieties. One variant is without the ubiquitous Chhena which is also known as Rabdi and the other one is with the Chhena whose recipe has been provided here.

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Kheera / Chhena Payesh / Paneer Kheer

Print Recipe

A quick and easy recipe of Kheera or sweet Pudding with Milk and Chhena, a Odisha speciality and one of the Mahaprasads offered to Lord Jagannath in Puri.

• Coursedessert
• Cuisineindian, odia

Servings

6 People

Cook Time

30 Minutes

Servings 6 People

Cook Time 30 Minutes

Kheera / Chhena Payesh / Paneer Kheer Print Recipe A quick and easy recipe of Kheera or sweet Pudding with Milk and Chhena, a Odisha speciality and one of the Mahaprasads offered to Lord Jagannath in Puri. Coursedessert Cuisineindian, odia Servings 6 People Cook Time 30 Minutes Servings 6 People Cook Time 30 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Litre milk Full fat
• 100 Gms Sweetened Condensed Milk 1/2 a can
• 3-4 Tbsp sugar Or to taste
• 1 Cup Chhena or Paneer Homemade
• 1/2 Tsp cardamom Powder
• 2 Tbsp Cashewnuts &Pistachios To garnish
• 1/2 Tsp saffron To garnish
• 1 Tsp ghee

Servings: People

Instructions

1. Boil the milk on low flame stirring in between till it reduces to half.
2. Add the condensed milk and the sugar, boil for 3-4 minutes. Add sugar according to your taste as the condensed milk is also sweet.
3. Meanwhile mash the homemade Paneer or Chhena with your hands for 1-2 minutes or you can just add the crumbled Paneer to the reduced boiled milk little by little while stirring constantly.
4. Add the cardamom powder to the milk and let it cook for 4-5 minutes and switch off the flame. Cooking it more might curdle the milk.
5. Break the Cashewnuts into small pieces,shallow fry them in hot ghee till light brown.
6. Pour the Pudding into small containers, garnish with sliced pistachios, fried cashews and saffron. Chill and serve.

Recipe Notes

• Traditionally Condensed milk and Saffron are not added to the Kheera. You can also add the saffron while cooking the Kheera for more flavour and colour..in that case soak the saffron in 1-2 tbsp of warm milk.
• If you make the Chhena at home remember to wash it nicely in a sieve under running water so that all traces of lemon or citric acid is gone otherwise it might curdle the thickened milk.
• The Chhena absorbs a lot of liquid ..so make sure the thickened milk has enough liquid consistency before adding the Chhena.

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