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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Eastern India

Chhenaছানা

Chhena is a boundary entry, not a true ferment. Hot milk is curdled with citric acid, lime juice or another acid, and the soft curd is drained in muslin without pressing; no microbes do the work. It is the base of Bengali sweets such as rasogolla and sandesh. Made in 4 steps over 27 min – 30 min. The longest step, heat the milk, takes 7–10 min (Chakraborty P 2021) and runs at 70–90 °C (Chakraborty P 2021).

Key numbers
Main step7–10 minReported[chakraborty2021]Heat the milk
Temperature70–90 °CReported[chakraborty2021]Heat the milk

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are from one laboratory method (Chakraborty et al. 2021) for 500 g of milk. Home makers use the juice of one ripe lime for a pan of boiling milk.
500 gMilk · Cow milk gives the soft, smooth chhena best for sweets[chakraborty2021][fao-tmp]
70 g of a 1 % solutionCitric acid · Added to the hot milk; lime juice is used at home in Nepal[chakraborty2021][fao-tmp]
Starternone; acid curdles the milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 27 min – 30 min

Start
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70–90 °C

What changes: The milk is heated nearly to boiling, then cooled a little

Step 1 of 4
Heat the milk
Time
7–10 min
Reported
Temperature
70–90 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Home cooks in Nepal bring the milk to the boil while stirring. Output: hot milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Chhena is curdled by acid and heat, not by microbes or rennet, so it is a boundary entry. Paneer is made the same way but pressed into blocks; chhena is only drained, which keeps it soft enough to knead into sweets.

Milk
Cow milk preferred; buffalo milk gives a harder, greasier chhena
Legal limits (India)
At most 70 % moisture and at least 50 % milk fat in dry matter, the same as paneer (FAO 1990)
Composition
Cow-milk chhena: 53.0 % fat in dry matter, 37.0 % protein (FAO 1990)

Related ferments

Safety

Chhena is a fresh, moist curd with no fermentation to protect it, so it is made and used fresh.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

FAO credits the Calcutta sweet maker Nobin Chandra Das with creating rasogolla from chhena in 1868.

  1. [chakraborty2021] Chakraborty P., Singh T., Shivhare U.S., Basu S. 2021, Understanding the effect of milk composition and milking season on quality characteristics of chhana, Journal of Texture Studies, doi:10.1111/jtxs.12558paper
  2. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 85, sections 7.5.5–7.5.6 and 7.6.7 (Chhanna)book