Chhena Payas Recipe - Learn How To Make Chhena Paayas

One of the most popular and classic dessert of India is the Chhena Payas. Try one and you cannot resist yourself from having one more and yet one more. Learn how to make this beautiful, extremely tasty and classic dessert dish with the help of step by step photos and detailed recipe given below:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes for rabri preparation + 40 minutes for chhena preparation + 1 hour to cool the chhena + 5 minutes to prepare the chhena payas from the rabri and chhena & garnishing

Recipe Yield:  10 servings (5 pieces per serving)

Alternative Names: Chena Payas, Chhenna Payas, Chenna Payas, Chenar Payas, Chena Kheer, Chenna Kheer, Chhena Kheer, Chhenna Kheer, Channar Payesh

Ingredients:

• Milk (Doodh) - 2 litre (1 litre milk for rabri + 1 litre milk for chhena)
• Sugar (cheeni) - 250 gm (100 gm milk for rabri + 150 gm milk for chhena); you can vary the amount of sugar as per your taste
• Saffron (kesar) - 1/2 tea spoon soaked in 2 1 table spoon milk for garnishing
• Dry Fruits - 1 table spoon chopped into small pieces
  • Pistachios (pista)
  • Almonds (badaam)
• Cardamom (chhoti elaichi) - 3
• Vinegar (siraka) - 2 table spoon for preparing the chhena
• Water - 1 cup for vinegar solution

Procedure:

Rabri Preparation:

1. Pour 1 litre milk (doodh) in a deep vessel (bhagona or pateela) of thick base and set it to boil.
2. When the milk (doodh) starts boiling then start stirring it from the base in the vessel. Stir at regular intervals till the milk has gained a thick consistency.
3. When the quanity of the milk reduces to half its original quantity, then add sugar (cheeni) and cardamom (chhoti elaichi) to it and mix well.
4. Now turn off the flame and keep the rabri prepared aside to cool.

Chhena Preparation:

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 (siraka) 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 (doodh 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 chhena (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 chhena left in the cloth with water. Squeeze the cloth with hands nicely so that the extra liquid is drained out. (Washing the chhena with plain water will help in cooling down the chhena and completely remove the taste of vinegar from it.)
5. Now take out the chhena as one piece in a mixer jar and churn it for 1 minute. This process will help in forming a smooth dough of the chhena. Take this chhena dough into a plate and mash it a little with hands.
6. Roll small balls of the chhena (the size of the chhena balls should be little bigger than the size of the green peas). Then keep them aside on a plate.
7. Now boil 2.5 cup water in a deep vessel (bhagona or pateela) and add sugar (cheeni) and cardamom (chhoti elaichi) to it.
8. When the sugar (cheeni) begins to melt add the chhena balls to the boiling sugar syrup (chashini). Let the chhena balls cook in the chashini for 2 minutes over high flame.
9. Now lower the flame to medium level and cover the vessel with a lid to cook the chhena balls in the sugar syrup (chashini) for 12-15 minutes.
10. Then turn off the flame. Remove the lid and you shall see that the chhena balls have doubled in their size. Now allow it to cool for 1 hour.

Chhena Payas Preparation:

1. Now first pour the rabri in a beautiful serving dish and then add the chhena balls to it.
2. Mix them with a spoon and garnish with dry fuits (pista, badaam) and saffron strands (kesar). The chhena payas is now ready to be served.

(Tips: 1. You can also mash and chafe the chhena to form a smooth dough instead of churning it in a mixer jar; 2. Check the chhena balls at regular intervals while they are cooking in the sugar syrup (chashini))

Link to video for Chhena Payas Recipe: Chhena Payas Recipe - Learn How To Make Chhena Paayas