Chhena


Chhena or sana are curds or cheese curds, originating from the Indian subcontinent, made from water buffalo or regular cow milk by adding food acids such as lemon juice instead of rennet and straining. It is very similar or analogous to cottage cheese.
Chhena is pressed and may be further processed to make paneer, a form of farmer cheese or only formed into balls to make desserts such as khira sagara, chhena kheeri, rasabali and ras malai, as well as sweets from the Indian subcontinent such as chhena jalebi, chhena gaja, chhena poda, pantua, rasgulla, and sandesh. For the sweets, mostly cow milk chhena is used.

History

For the making of what is today called chhena, the Manasollasa recommends the addition of some sour substance to boiled milk, after which the precipitate was separated.