How To Make Chenna (Chhena)
How to make homemade Chenna (chhena) Recipe! This is the base ingredient for many Bengali sweets like rasgulla, rasmalai, sandesh, chum chum.
It’s incredibly easy to make at home! You’ll really be amazed at how little effort it takes, with a few minutes hands-on time and a foolproof method. Keep reading, I’ll be sharing all the tips and tricks to make it perfect all the time.
Homemade Chenna Recipe
Chenna is nothing but the coagulated milk which is made by curdling the milk with food acid (lemon juice). It is prepared from the full fat cow’s milk.
To make many Bengali desserts, you need to (must) make fresh chenna. Because it is not available in the market, this homemade chhena recipe will be handy.
You must make it fresh and use it right away. You cannot make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, it will alter the texture and the recipe in which you’re using won’t come out good.
Chenna vs Paneer
- The ingredients used for both are the same.
- The method is also almost similar. The only difference is that a few extra steps are needed to make paneer.
- Chenna has more moisture than paneer.
- Once the chenna is made, in the next step the weight or pressure is put on the chenna to make paneer. Hence chenna is soft, crumbly in texture while paneer is firm (that you can make cubes out of it).
- Chenna is mostly used in Bengali desserts while paneer is used in North Indian curry dishes.
How to make Chenna (chhena)? (Pics)
Prepare a sieve for straining: line a large fine-mesh sieve with several layers of cheese cheesecloth or use man’s handkerchief or thin cotton cloth. Set over a large bowl.
Add milk to pot: Pour the milk in a heavy bottom pan or patila.
Bring to a boil: Heat the milk over medium heat and let it come to a full boil, stirring frequently.
Off the heat, add lemon juice: Once it starts boiling, turn off the heat and remove it from the heat. Add lemon juice and keep stirring. 
Milk has curdled: As you stir, you will notice that milk has starts to curdle. If it does not curdle, then you can add more lemon juice. But do not add too much at the beginning. 
Strain the mixture: You will see the greenish whey and milk solids(chenna) are separated. Drain and separate them using a prepared strainer. You can keep and use the whey later in curry, dal, soup, etc.
Wash under running water: Then wash the chenna under running cold water, so all the sourness from lemon juice/vinegar will wash away. Also, as it cools down, it stops further cooking and prevents it from becoming chewy.
Remove the moisture: Now gather the edges of the cloth, tie and twist, press lightly to remove all the moisture.
Your chhena is ready to use in the sweets.
What To Do With Whey?
After you drain the curds you’ll be left with plenty of leftover whey (that liquid that’s strained off from the coagulation of proteins and fats in milk). You can use it in:
- Dal, curry, soup
- To knead the dough for roti, paratha or bread
- Oatmeal, khichdi
- Smoothies
- Whey drinks using fruit juices
Note: just don’t forget this leftover whey does have acidity to it so be sure this won’t throw your recipe off.
Check out more basic/homemade recipes
– Khoya
– Instant khoya (mawa)
– Homemade yogurt (dahi)
– How to cook basmati rice
Hope you find this guide on how to make chenna at home helpful. If you have made it, I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review.
How To Make Chenna (Chhena)
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
- 1 liter or 4 ¼ cups Milk, (full fat, cow’s milk)
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice, (or lime juice or vinegar)
Instructions
- Line a large fine-mesh sieve with several layers of cheese cheesecloth or use man’s handkerchief or thin cotton cloth. Set over a large bowl.
- Take milk in a heavy bottom pan or patila. Bring it to a boil on medium heat. As soon as it starts boiling turn off the heat and remove it from the heat (if using electric/coil stovetop).
- Then start adding lemon juice and keep stirring.
- As you stir, you will notice that milk has starts to curdle. If it does not curdle, then you can add more lemon juice. But do not add too much at the beginning.
- You will see the greenish whey and milk solids(chenna) are separated. Drain and separate them using a prepared strainer.
- Then wash the chenna under running cold water, so all the sourness from lemon juice/vinegar will wash away. Also, as it cools down, it stops further cooking and prevents it from becoming chewy.
- Now gather the edges of the cloth, tie and twist, press lightly to remove all the moisture.
- Your chhena is ready to use in the sweets.
Notes
- I got 150 grams of chenna from 1 liter of milk. Sometimes I get more, sometimes I get less. The quantity output depends on the quality and fat content of the milk you have used.
- Always use full-fat milk (whole milk) – preferably cow’s milk.
- Please use freshly squeezed lemon juice (not from the bottle).
Hi Kanan,
I was just looking for a perfect recipe for chenna. I love your detailed instructions. Just a quick question do you put the lemon juice right into the hot milk or do you let it cool for a few minutes before adding it.
I love your blog and it is something I read everyday for the new recipes!!
Yes into the hot milk. I might have waited for around a minute or so.
As soon as I turn off the stove, remove it from the stove and then add lemon juice