← Nouns Cooking · Dessert Parlour

Ingredients

• 1.25 l full-fat milk, for the chenna
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, mixed with 2 tbsp water
• 200 g sugar, for the syrup
• 850 ml water, for the syrup
• 750 ml full-fat milk, for the rabri
• 100 g sugar, for the rabri
• 1 pinch Saffron
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 2 tbsp Pistachios, thinly sliced

Method

1. Bring the 1.25 litres of milk to the boil, turn off the heat and wait 1 minute. Stir in the lemon water a little at a time until the milk splits into white curds and clear, greenish whey.
2. Pour into a muslin-lined sieve and rinse the curds (chenna) under cold water to wash away the lemon. Squeeze out the water, then hang for 30 min until moist but not wet.
3. Meanwhile start the rabri: simmer the 750 ml milk in a wide pan over medium-low heat for about 30 min, stirring often, until reduced by about a third. Stir in the sugar, saffron and cardamom and keep warm.
4. Knead the chenna on a clean worktop with the heel of your hand for 5–8 min, until smooth and slightly greasy with no grains. Roll into 12 balls, then flatten into discs with no cracks.
5. Bring the sugar and water to a rolling boil in a wide pan. Slip in the discs, cover and boil for 12–15 min over medium-high heat. They will swell to about double.
6. Lift out the discs, cool for a few minutes, then gently squeeze out some syrup between your palms without breaking them.
7. Add them to the warm rabri, scatter with pistachios and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Tips

• Kneading is everything: under-kneaded chenna cracks and falls apart in the syrup. Test one disc first.
• Use ordinary full-fat milk; UHT or ultra-pasteurised milk often won't curdle into soft chenna. Contains nuts.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Swasthi's Recipes Tea for Turmeric