Chhena

Not to be confused with chickpea (Hindi and Nepali: Chana).

Chhana formed into balls to make rasgulla

Chhena (Nepali: छेना Hindi: छेना [ˈtʃʰeːnaː]); Odia: ଛେନା [tʃʰena]) or chhana (Bengali: ছানা [tʃʰana]) are curds or cheese curds, originating from the Indian subcontinent, made from water buffalo or regular cow milk by adding food acids such as lemon juice instead of rennet and straining. It is very similar or analogous to cottage cheese.

Chhana is pressed and may be further processed to make paneer, a form of farmer cheese or only formed into balls to make desserts such as khira sagara, chhena kheeri, rasabali and ras malai, as well as South Asian sweets (mishti / mithai) such as chhena jalebi, chhena gaja, chhena poda, pantua, rasgulla, and sandesh. For the sweets, mostly cow milk chhena is used.

See also

• Khoa
• List of cheeses