Recently, Odisha was granted the GI tag for its authentic red ant chutney or Similipal Kai chutney. This interesting chutney is made with red ants and is mixed with garlic and chillies for a hatke flavour. While you ponder upon this unique chutney, we'll tell you about Odisha's famous dessert dish, Chhena Poda. Made with milk and cottage cheese, this delicious sweet dish is also Ayushmann Khurrana's favourite!
In Odia, 'poda' means burnt or roasted while 'Chhena' refers to cottage cheese. The delicacy is true to its name as it is made by roasting and caramelising it. This dessert appeals to both locals and visitors who are amused by its flavours.
The dish is made by cottage cheese, sugar, sooji, cardamom powder, ghee and nuts. The sweet is found in most sweet shops across Odisha, who mass produce these sweet treats.
A video shared by chef Vikas Khanna on his Instagram handle is surely going to intrigue you to taste this dessert. The video shows how chhena poda is prepared in a mass scale by the locals.
The sweet dish is even Ayushmann Khurana's favourite. He had once tweeted, “The dark side of chena poda successfully dilutes the dark side of mine."
The official account of Odisha tourism had replied to the tweet, "Thanks @ayushmannk we believe our USP is our uniqueness, be it our cuisine or destination. Hope you had a chance to look around & enjoyed your stay here. We look forward to welcome you again."
Also watch: Odisha's red ant chutney gets GI tag; here is how the locals make this unique recipe