Why Your Homemade Chenna Stays Impossibly Soft

Q: What is Chena? Chenna vs. Paneer - What’s the Difference?

Chenna in English actually has no direct translation, but it does refer to curdled milk solids that are soft and crumbly. After boiling milk, we strain out the excess whey through a cheese cloth or sieve. You can either save these cheese curds, which are the chenna, or press them down to form paneer! Chenna is more moist than paneer. More details in my paneer recipe - and as a side note if you don’t know what paneer is, then I totally recommend you try making your own paneer! I love to describe paneer as the ultimate vegetarian protein! In my household, we’d enjoy chenna quite frequently. This is because in India, you get fresh milk right from the cow. Because the milk isn’t pasteurized like in the West, we have to boil our own milk to remove all the bacteria so that it’s ready to use. When we’d want to extract the solids, there you go, you have chenna! As mentioned earlier, these solids are used for a variety of dessert recipes, but for breakfast or snack we loved to have this in a bowl with a quick 10 minutes Sweet and Spicy Tomato Chutney and some buttered toast! When preparing my chenna for this combo, I like to simply season it with some salt and freshly ground black pepper.

✦ Join the Kitchen

You may also notice that the chenna is a result of one of the steps to making Fresh Homemade Paneer. The chenna can be eaten on its own, or it becomes solid to form our delicious paneer that’s used for curries!

What is Chena? Chenna vs. Paneer - What’s the Difference?▼

Chenna in English actually has no direct translation, but it does refer to curdled milk solids that are soft and crumbly. After boiling milk, we strain out the excess whey through a cheese cloth or sieve. You can either save these cheese curds, which are the chenna, or press them down to form paneer! Chenna is more moist than paneer. More details in my paneer recipe - and as a side note if you don’t know what paneer is, then I totally recommend you try making your own paneer! I love to describe paneer as the ultimate vegetarian protein!

In my household, we’d enjoy chenna quite frequently. This is because in India, you get fresh milk right from the cow. Because the milk isn’t pasteurized like in the West, we have to boil our own milk to remove all the bacteria so that it’s ready to use. When we’d want to extract the solids, there you go, you have chenna! As mentioned earlier, these solids are used for a variety of dessert recipes, but for breakfast or snack we loved to have this in a bowl with a quick 10 minutes Sweet and Spicy Tomato Chutney and some buttered toast! When preparing my chenna for this combo, I like to simply season it with some salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Toasted bread slices on a plate with bowls of fresh chenna and red sauce for serving.

You could also sweeten your chenna with some sugar if you’re looking for a sweet treat.

Unlike paneer, which you can buy from the grocery store or your local South Asian market, you have to make chenna from scratch if you’re going to use it for desserts.

Chenna is also written as chenna or chhena or chana. They’re all the same thing, so don’t get confused!

Tools Needed

Ingredients for Chenna

This is very simple! Here’s all you need to make your chenna:

Full fat cow’s milk
Buttermilk

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute with lemon or lime juice, but buttermilk will give you the acidity that comes from lemon or lime juice with some extra richness! Some recipes even use vinegar for the acidity, but I really find the best option is using the buttermilk.

Can I Make Chenna Ahead of Time?▼

NO! This is a cold hard no! Unlike paneer, which you can store in the fridge or freezer, you gotta use your chenna immediately or else the texture will be lost. So plan accordingly! I had breakfast for dinner when I had this chenna and toast with chutney as you can see below!

After all, it is so quick to make.

Tips for the Best Homemade Chenna

While warming the milk, make sure to stir the milk from time to time to ensure it doesn’t burn at the bottom.
If you are using non-homogenized full fat milk, the curdling process will start immediately after adding the buttermilk. In this case, turn off the heat and continue stirring to separate the cheese.
If using homogenized full fat milk the curdling process would be triggered by continuing to heat the milk. Keep the heat on and continue stirring to separate the cheese.

How to Make Chenna

In a large pot, add all of the milk. Heat on medium heat until the milk comes to a slow boil
Reduce heat to low and heat milk until it starts to foam (you may need to cover the pot if this takes too long). Keep stirring from time to time to ensure the milk does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
As soon as the milk starts to foam, stir in the buttermilk and heat until the milk starts to separate. You will notice milk will curdle.
Using a spatula, collect the “chenna” or paneer from the sides of the pot towards the center.

What Is Chenna?

Chenna (also spelled chhena or chana) is a soft, fresh cheese made by curdling whole milk with an acid — in this recipe, a splash of buttermilk. As the warm milk separates, the delicate curds are gathered and drained, leaving a moist, ricotta-like cheese with a mild, milky flavor. It comes together with just two ingredients and no special equipment, which is why it's such a satisfying thing to make from scratch at home.

What to Make With Chenna

Fresh chenna is wonderfully versatile. A few of my favorite ways to use it:

Sweeten it with a little sugar for a quick sweet treat, or use it as the base for classic Bengali sweets like rasgulla, sandesh, and rasmalai.
Press and drain it further to turn it into firm paneer for curries and grilling — chenna is really just paneer before it's pressed.
Crumble it into stuffings, parathas, or a scramble anywhere you'd reach for a soft fresh cheese.
Stir it into warm dishes as a mild, protein-rich stand-in for ricotta.

How to Store Homemade Chenna

Chenna is at its best used fresh, right after draining, but leftovers keep just fine:

Refrigerate the drained chenna in an airtight container and use it within a day or two.
To keep it longer, press the chenna under a weight to drain more whey and firm it into paneer, which holds up better in the fridge.

Save the whey that drains off — it's lovely for kneading soft roti dough or adding to soups and smoothies.

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra

Easy Chenna Recipe - How to Make Chenna at Home

Make fresh, soft chenna at home with just milk and a souring agent. This easy homemade Indian cheese recipe is a pantry essential for sweets and curries. Simple steps, perfect results every time.

Stovetop

Be the first to rate ✦

Be the first to review

Saved to your collection

18 min

Cook

18 min

Total

servings

makes 2 cups

easy

Level

Ingredients

Tap any quantity to scale

(1 l) whole milk
(125 ml) buttermilk

Instructions

1
In a large pot, add all of the milk. Heat on medium heat until the milk comes to a slow boil
In a large pot, add all of the milk. Heat on medium heat until the milk comes to a slow boil
2
Reduce heat to low and heat milk until it starts to foam (you may need to cover the pot if this takes too long). Keep stirring from time to time to ensure the milk does not stick at the bottom of the pot.
Reduce heat to low and heat milk until it starts to foam (you may need to cover the pot if this takes too long). Keep stirring from time to time to ensure the milk does not stick at the bottom of the pot.
3
As soon as the milk starts to foam, stir in the buttermilk and heat until the milk starts to separate. You will notice milk will curdle.
As soon as the milk starts to foam, stir in the buttermilk and heat until the milk starts to separate. You will notice milk will curdle.
4
Using a spatula, collect the “chena” or paneer from the sides of the pot towards the center.
Using a spatula, collect the “chena” or paneer from the sides of the pot towards the center.

Notes

•If you are using non-homogenized milk, the curdling process will start immediately after adding the buttermilk. In this case, turn off the heat and continue stirring to separate the cheese.

Nutrition per serving

Calories

Protein

Carbs

Fat

Fiber

Sugar

70mg

Sodium

Share This Recipe

Did you make this recipe? Tag @cooking.with.anadi on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithanadi

Tested & written in Anadi’s kitchen