Chhena Jhili

Chhena jhili is a sweet from the state of Odisha made by kneading chhena, which is curdled milk, frying it, and letting it soak up sugar syrup. Known as a specialty of Nimapada in Puri district, its small pieces of dough, fried golden to brown, are eaten together with the sweet liquid.

In one method, the chhena is kneaded until smooth, mixed with a small amount of wheat flour or semolina, and shaped. In some households, it is rolled into thin sticks whose ends are joined to form rings. The pieces are fried in oil or ghee until cooked through, then soaked in warm syrup and left to rest. Kneading the grains of chhena together to form a shape, then letting the fried pieces take on sweetness, is a sequence characteristic of milk sweets.

Rasgulla also uses chhena, but because it is cooked in syrup, it turns out pale in colour. Chhena jhili is fried first, so its surface develops colour and a toasty aroma. Chhena gaja belongs to the same family of sweets that are fried and then soaked in syrup, and it is known to be shaped into squares in some examples.

In Nimapada, chhena jhili is also popular at sweet shops. Anees Khan, a chef from Odisha, has said that, on a journey visiting various places, Khan recalled the taste of chhena jhili, a childhood favourite. A local story tells of Aarta Sahu, a confectioner who sold jalebi, trying a sweet made with chhena at a customer’s suggestion. According to the story, the confectioner devised a way to squeeze chhena, which differs from a flowing wheat-flour batter, through a cloth with a hole in it. This origin story told in the area is distinct from any record that establishes who first created the sweet.

Glossary