Chomchom

Ingredients

Chhena

• 2 litresfull-cream milk
• juice of 2 lemons, diluted with 3 tbsp water

Dough

• 2 tbspfine semolina
• 1 tspplain flour
• a pinch of ground cardamom

Syrup

• 500 gsugar
• 1 litrewater
• 3cardamom pods

To finish

• 100 gmawa or milk powder
• chopped pistachios

Directions

1. Bring the milk to the boil, take it off the heat, and stir in the diluted lemon juice a little at a time until the curds separate cleanly from a greenish whey.
2. Add the acid gradually and stop the moment it splits. Too much makes the chhena grainy and hard, and there is no softening it afterwards.
3. Strain through muslin, rinse under cold water to wash the acid off, and hang it for 30 minutes to drain. Do not press it dry, because chhena needs to stay moist.
4. Knead the chhena on a board with the heel of your hand for 8 to 10 minutes, until it goes from grainy to completely smooth and faintly greasy.
5. That kneading is the whole craft of Bengali sweet-making. Under-kneaded chhena cracks apart in the syrup and there is no rescuing it.
6. Work in the semolina, flour and cardamom and knead for a minute more.
7. Divide into 16 and roll each piece into a smooth oblong with tapered ends, checking that there are no cracks anywhere on the surface.
8. Boil the sugar and water with the cardamom pods into a thin syrup. Thin rather than thick, because the sweets have to absorb it and a heavy syrup only coats them.
9. Lower the shaped pieces in, cover, and boil steadily for 20 minutes, during which they will nearly double in size.
10. Keep it at a proper rolling boil rather than a simmer, with the lid on. That movement is what makes them swell and stay light.
11. Turn the heat off and leave them in the syrup for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
12. Lift them out, roll each one in grated mawa, and top with chopped pistachio.

Technique

• Gentle acid, hard kneading, thin syrup, hard boil. Four rules, and each one is where a batch usually fails.
• It is associated with Porabari in Tangail, where it has been made since the nineteenth century and takes its name from the village.
• Use full-cream milk. Skimmed milk gives a poor yield and a tough chhena.

Substitutions

• Vinegar in place of lemon juice, equally diluted.
• Milk powder worked with a little ghee in place of mawa.

Variations

• The darker Porabari style, cooked longer to a caramel colour.
• With saffron in the syrup.
• Split and filled with thickened kheer.

History

Associated with Porabari in Tangail, where the sweet has been made since the nineteenth century and named for the village.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chomchom?

Chomchom is a dessert from Bangladesh: oblong chhena sweet soaked in syrup and dusted with dried milk. Associated with Porabari in Tangail, where the sweet has been made since the nineteenth century and named for the village.

How long does Chomchom take to make?

Chomchom takes 45 min plus 4 hr soaking of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 pieces. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Chomchom?

Yes, within limits. Vinegar in place of lemon juice, equally diluted. Milk powder worked with a little ghee in place of mawa.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chomchom?

Strain through muslin, rinse under cold water to wash the acid off, and hang it for 30 minutes to drain. Do not press it dry, because chhena needs to stay moist.