Bhubaneswar: Chhena poda is a delicious cottage cheese based dessert of Odisha which is a delicacy and loved by people. April 11 marks chhena poda diwas.
The name of the dessert literally means baked or roasted (Poda) cottage cheese or paneer (chhena). Other than chhena sugar, suji (semolina) is added to make it. All the ingredients are then kneaded and made into a dough.
The dough hence formed is traditionally wrapped in the leaves of the Sal tree and baked in a charcoal oven for hours together. Due to the roasting, the sugar caramelizes and forms a tasty outer crust while the inside it remains soft and spongy.
The story of the origin of chhena poda is a story worth a read. It originated in the district of Nayagarh. It was however an accidental invention, say reports in this regard. A sweet maker Sudarshan Sahoo in Kacheri Bazaar of Nayagarh made the dessert ‘by chance’.
Sahoo added sugar and to the leftover cottage cheese in his shop one night, and left it in an oven inadvertently. As the oven was still warm due to earlier use, the sugar melted inside the paneer and also formed a tasty crust outside. The sweet maker was pleasantly surprised to find the tasty dessert that he had created. He then sold the newly created dessert to the locals and everyone liked it and praised him.
From then to now chhena poda has become a household name and holds a very special place in every Odia’s heart and household. Chhena poda diwas is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of its creator Sudarshan Sahoo. The district administration in Nayagarh decided to celebrate ‘Bishwa Chhena Poda Diwas’ on April 11. It is worth mentioning here that, the Nayagarh district administration has also applied for Geographical Indication (GI) tag to chhena poda.
Ms Kalinga