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.

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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.

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Easy Chenna Recipe

Do you love ricotta cheese? I know I do! If you love ricotta, then I’m sure you’re going to love chenna! Chenna is so soft and crumbly and it just melts in your mouth! Chenna is truly a delight to have on its own with as a snack, particularly chenna toast, where you pair it with some tomato chutney and toast, but it’s also commonly used in dessert recipes such as rasgulla and rasmalai. To be honest, I’ve never made those desserts before, but now I have an idea of what to do!

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 chena or chhena or chana. They’re all the same thing, so don’t get confused!

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 at 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 “chena” or paneer from the sides of the pot towards the center.

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.

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18 min

Cook

18 min

Total

servings

makes 2 cups

easy

Level

Ingredients

Tap any quantity to scale

(1 l) whole milkShop →
(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 centre.
Using a spatula, collect the “chena” or paneer from the sides of the pot towards the centre.

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

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Tested & written in Anadi’s kitchen

Easy Chenna Recipe

Ingredients for Chenna

Tips for the Best Homemade Chenna

How to Make Chenna