Pandemic !!!! It has always been a word in the dictionary for so many years till Covid-19 came into existence. No one would have ever imagined that we have to face such a situation in our lifetime. Stay home and stay safe is the new Mantra of the year 2020 :) During the normal times ,the usual routine was to cook breakfast and lunch in the morning. Then off to work, school and college. In the evenings cook dinner which was usually not a very grand affair on the weekdays. Now with the new mantra of 2020, the lady of the house has to cook a minimum 3 proper meals which includes a breakfast, a proper lunch and a proper dinner. With the children around 24/7 a nice snack item also has to be made in the evenings.... One can therefore imagine the plight of the lady of the house who has to do everything from office work to cleaning to mopping to cleaning utensils etc. and then cooking in the summers when the temperature is very high during the mid-day. It is absolutely a hell lot of work for a lady :( It is absolutely necessary that all the members of the house help her with the daily chores ! One evening, when I had just done with my chores, my family wanted to have something sweet for dessert.... I was like totally upset, angry and disgusted with the idea to make something special for dessert. I kept on reading a book on Mughals of India . Then all of a sudden an idea stuck to me, I can make Chenapoda Pitha ......Yeah !!!;) I had made cottage cheese (paneer) at home in the morning... Half of my job was already done. I felt really happy that now its going to be an easy task ....:) So here goes the recipe - Ingredients - Paneer/Cottage Cheese - 300 gm Cottage cheese water - 2 to 3 tablespoon Suji/Semolina - 3 tea spoons Sugar - 4 table spoons (you can add more or less according to your taste ) Elaichi powder/Cardamom - 1tea spoon Cashews and Raisins - Handful Ghee (Clarified butter) - To grease the baking dish Method- In a clean bowl, take the cottage cheese, sugar, semolina, elaichi powder and the dry fruits. Mix well till everything is incorporated well. While mixing, you need to add 2-3tablespoon of the cheese water. In this way the paneer will be moist and soft. Now grease a baking dish with ghee and set the oven to 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Pre-heat the baking dish and then pour the paneer mixture evenly. Bake it for 20 min or till the upper layer is golden in colour. Let it cool down completely to the room temperature. Then de-mould the Cheenapoda Pitha from the baking dish. Cut it into small pieces.. Now time to relish the super delicious cheesecake from Odisha the land of Temples. You can have it at room temperature or you can slightly refrigerate it for sometime and then enjoy it .... Stay home and stay safe and stay blessed !
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