Chomchom or ChumChum or ChamCham Recipe - Learn How To Make Chomchom

Chomchom (chamcham or chumchum) is a traditional Bengali dessert which famous across Bangladesh and India. It is made in a variety of colors like orange, light yellow, light pink and white. Learn how to make this rich and beautiful dessert with the help of step by step photos and detailed recipe given below:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes + 2 hours to soak the chena in the sugar syrup (chashini)

Recipe Yield: 4 servings

Alternative Names: ChamCham, Chom Chom, ChumChum, Chomchom, Bengali Chomchom.

Ingredients:

• Milk - 1 litre
• Khoya or Mawa - 100 gm
• Cardamom (chhoti elaichi) - 3
• Sugar - 1 cup (80 gm) for sugar syrup (chashini)
• Vinegar (sirka) - 2 big spoon dissolved in 1 cup water
• Water for sugar syrup (chashini) - 4 times the amount of sugar
• Powdered sugar - 2 big spoons for khoya stuffing
• Almonds (badaam) - as per requirement for garnishing
• Food color - 1/2 pinch (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a deep vessel (bhagona or pateela) pour 1 litre milk (doodh) and set it to boil on high flame.
2. When the milk comes to boil, pour in 2 table spoon of vinegar (sirka) diluted in 1 small cup of water and stir with a ladle. Remember to do this process of curdling the milk on high flame. Notice that milk will begin to curdle (dudh ka phatna) after 1 minute into big lumps.
3. Now spread a clean cotton cloth (handkerchief) over a deep vessel or bowl and pour the curdled milk to seperate the chena (or paneer) formed, from the liquid.
4. Strain the liquid nicely using hands (as shown in the picture below). Gather the cloth from all sides in the form of pouch (potli) and rinse the chena left in the cloth with water. Squeeze the cloth with hands nicely so that the extra liquid is drained out. (Washing the chena with plain water will help in cooling down the chena and completely remove the taste of vinegar from it.)
5. Now take out the chena as one piece in a plate. With your palm start mashing and chafing (masalna) the chena, and smoothen it nicely to form a smooth dough. (You can also churn the chena in a mixer for 1 minute to prepare its smooth dough.)
6. Then add 1/2 pinch food color to the chena and mix it well with it. (Only 1/2 pinch of food color will bring a nice uniform color to the entire chena dough)
7. Roll small balls of the chena and press and transform the chena balls into long oval shapes (as shown in the images below). Then keep them aside on a plate.
8. For the sugar syrup (chashini), in a deep vessel (bhagona or pateela) take sugar and add water (4 times the amount of sugar) and lightly crushed cardamom (chhoti elaichi) to it. Allow the solution to boil and the sugar to dissolve completely. (Remember, the sugar syrup being prepared here is of flowy consistency) Once the sugar melts and dissolves completely allow the sugar syrup (chashini) to boil for 1 minute.
9. Now add the chena balls prepared to the boiling sugar syrup (chashini) and let it boil for a 2 minutes over high flame. After 2 minutes, lower the flame to medium level, cover the vessel with a lids and allow the chena to cook in the sugar syrup (chashini) for 15 minutes. (Do not cook the chena over very low flame. Cook only on medium level flame, which will neither allow the chena to turn black nor the sugar syrup (chashini) to dry up)
10. Turn off the flame after 15 minutes and leave the chena in the sugar syrup (chashini) for 2 hours.
11. Now grate the khoya in a plate and add powdered sugar to it. Mix the ingredients well with hands to form a uniform and smooth khoya stuffing.
12. Then grate the almonds or finely chop them into small pieces.
13. Now remove the cooked chena from the sugar syrup (chashini) to a plate. Then make a long cut at the centre along the length of the chena (as shown in the image below) to prepare it for khoya stuffing. Prepare the remaining chena in the similar manner.
14. Stuff the chena with the khoya stuffing one by one as shown in the images below.
15. Then garnish them with grated or finely chopped almonds. The chomchom is now ready to be served.

(Tips: 1. Gather the cloth from all sides in the form of pouch (potli) and rinse the chena left in the cloth with water, so that the taste of vinegar is removed.)