The festival of lights Diwali just got over yesterday but not the festivities that will follow the subsequent days of this grand festival. This hangover is here to last week long with gradual fading away of sounds with few odd explosions of firecrackers here and there till the Bhai Dooj when these entire deepawali festivities will conclude. This time I am little late with my diwali exclusive post but still feeling the urge to share with you the recipe of my cute yummy cookies that were really enjoyable & were exclusively made for the occasion. Now even though diwali is over but the celebrations are still there till the Bhai dooj, so let us celebrate the sweetness of this festive season with this foodiestreasure exclusive dessert.

The recipe of these baked cottage cheese sponge cookies is actually inspired from the famous sweet, chhena poda of Odisha. Even though this sweet is very close to chhena poda in taste & the way of cooking, I have tried to slightly alter the crust in my sweet with a layer of semolina & cashews to avoid the burnt appearance of chenna & at the same time improving its texture and finally topping it with caramelized sugar which gave the cookies a crunch along with the soft feeling of the chenna which is typical of chenna poda. Apparently chenna poda may be described as a chenna cake where the chenna is used as a batter with a mixture of other ingredients like dry fruits, condensed milk, sugar and little semolina or rice flour all baked together like a cake. My cookies are very similar to it with the only difference that I have used the chenna in the form of dough & coating it afterwards for baking. And the end result was simply so pleasing that my father called it with the name of manhara meaning that steals your heart.

Now have a look at the recipe below and try making your celebrations extra special👇

RECIPE:

Ingredients:
1) Chhena/Cottage cheese – 250-300 g approximately (from approximately 750 ml milk)
2) Semolina – 2 tbs.
3) Cashews – 10 to 12
4) Sugar – 2^1/2 tbs (1 tbs added in chhena + 1^1/2 tbs for caramelization).
6) Almonds and pistachio (finely chopped) for garnishing – a few.
7) Refined oil – for greasing – 1 to 2 tsp.
8) Rose essence – 1/2 tsp.
9) Milk powder – 2 tbs.

Preparation:

1) Take the freshly prepared chhena in a bowl, add milk powder, sugar and rose essence to it and mix hem together using your hand.

2) Knead the chhena well so that no lumps are left.

3) Add some chopped almonds and mix again.

4) Make round balls out of the kneaded chhena and keep aside.

5) Dry roast semolina and cashews in a wok or kadai over a low to medium flame till the semolina starts imparting its aroma.

6) Grind them together to make a smooth powder.

7) Take a chhena ball, cover it with the powdered mix by rolling over it and garnish with some chopped almond and pistachio.

8) Similarly, cover the remaining chhena balls with powdered mix and keep them over a dish or tray.

9) Grease the muffin moulds or use muffin liner.

10) Put each ball over the individual mould.

11) Now, your filled moulds are ready for baking. (Note: I have used pressure cooker for baking. So, follow the instructions for baking, only if using a pressure cooker).

12) For baking in pressure cooker, fill 1/3^rd of it with salt or sand to make a bed.

13) Put a separator or wire stand over the bed, take the lid, remove the whistle and gasket from it and close the lid of the cooker.

14) Preheat cooker for 5 minutes over a high flame.

15) Bring down the flame to low, open the lid and carefully place the moulds with chhena balls over the wire stand.

16) Close the lid and keep for baking over low flame for approximately 35 to 45 minutes.

17) You may open the lid after 30 minutes to check but don’t keep it open for long as the balls may get flattened.

18) Switch off the flame after 45 minutes, when the balls turn slightly brownish or yellowish in colour.

19) Keep the lid closed for some time until the temperature of the cooker comes down.

20) Open the lid and take out the moulds.

21) Demould your cookies over a tray or dish.

22) Caramelize sugar and pour gently over the top of each cookie.

23) Let them cool for sometime so that the caramelized sugar get hardened for a crispy texture.

24) Your spongy cookies are now ready to serve, enjoy them immediately for a warm taste or you may have it later. ( for caramelizing sugar, you may follow the link : https://www.spicingyourlife.com/how-to-caramelize-sugar-caramelized/

Have it fresh and slightly warm for best taste along with a cup of tea.