Traditional Bengali Chomchom Recipe

Cham cham or chum chum is a traditional popular oval shaped Bengali very delicious sweet that is popular in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh and comes in a variety of colors soft cottage cheese dumplings in rose flavoured sugar syrup. This is again same as how one makes Ras malai. It is prepared with freshly prepared cheese, Paneer or chena. It is a pure delight and melts in your mouth.

It is brownish in color and of a denser texture than the rasgulla. Chum Chum a soft, succulent sponge made of milk curd is the most delightful Bengali sweet dish made with Indian cottage cheese, maida, milk and sugar. Chomchom or chum chum in itself is a popular variety of mishti.

I am sure that when you saw the recipe you already know what caught my attention when I found it. Yes! Its name. My goodness, it's so great that I couldn't help but see what it was: Bengali Chum Chum . It's one of those names that, even if you don't want it to, it captures your attention immediately.

You can't imagine what it's made of just by looking at it, at least in my case. What appears to be a soft, steamed bun or something similar is the complete opposite of what we think. In fact, it's not made with any dough and 95% of the recipe is made with milk.

Chum Chum also called Cham Cham or Chom Chom is a sweet originally from Bengal made with chenna, a variety of fresh cheese. You can find many versions of this sweet in different corners of India, which specify that they are made with paneer or cottage cheese. They are all the same type of cheese, called in different ways. The main difference between the different preparations may lie in the fillings, the way they are presented or the flavourings used.

It is a sweet made with milk, both the main piece and the filling, but they are prepared differently. The result is a soft, very juicy sweet, with a very pleasant texture and sweet and delicate flavors. It reminds us very closely of other Indian sweets such as rasgulla or rasamalai.

Its preparation process is very simple. This is a very simple recipe, it does not require long steps or very complicated processes. The only thing we need to have is patience, especially to prepare the khoya.

This is a preparation that requires more attention and care, to form them, cook them than other types of skills that require more precision. And in return, we will enjoy some sweets so different from what you have tried so far that you will be fascinated.

What is khoya? Khoya, also known as mawa or khoa, are the solids of evaporated milk. To make them, we must cook the milk over low heat, thus allowing the water to evaporate and obtaining these solids that will give rise to a golden-coloured paste, subtly sweet and with a very silky texture . Not to mention its smell, which, personally, reminds me a lot of dulce de leche.

In Indian cuisine, especially in the northern part, khoya is the main ingredient in most of its sweets. There are several types of khoya that differ from each other in their texture and final consistency:

It is very solid, so much so that it can even be grated. To make it, the milk must be reduced to 1/5. Also known as Mawa or Hariyali. It is less dense than the previous one, it can be molded (this is the one we will prepare). Also known as danedar mawa. Tartaric acid is added to achieve this texture. This ingredient is also used to season curries.

How should I cook khoya? With a lot of patience. It is a long process, in my case it took 1 hour and 45 minutes for 600 ml of milk, during which we must cook at low heat. Do not be tempted to increase the temperature to speed up the process. The result will not be the same since we increase the chances, by 200%, of burning those solids and transferring an unpleasant flavour to the final paste.

This is a preparation that we can prepare while we cook other things or are in the kitchen. At first it does not require much attention, but as the liquid reduces, it does require us to keep an eye on it and stir to prevent the solids from burning.

Do you get a lot of cheese after reducing milk? No, and even less so if we use milk that is not of very good quality. In my case, I used 600 ml of whole milk to obtain 93 g of khoya. I obtained the exact amount for this preparation, I mean, not on purpose.

Please note that this ingredient has a very short shelf life because it is made from fresh milk. Once it is made, it will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

What type of milk should I use to make chenna? I recommend using fresh whole milk that has not been ultra-pasteurized (UHT). Semi-skimmed or skimmed milk will not give us good results because they contain very little fat, which is what we want to obtain the milk solids.

Can I cut milk with vinegar instead of lemon juice? Yes, you can. Personally, I like lemon better as it doesn't impart as strong a flavour. But both work the same.

Can I divide the process into 2 days? Yes. On the first day you can make the chenna (I also recommend making the khoya), shape it and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until the next day. On the second day you just have to cook the pastries in the syrup, fill them and serve.

Khoya is very laborious. Can it be bought? It can be purchased in specialized Indian stores. But despite having a somewhat long preparation process, if you think about it, it only requires our full presence for the last 30 minutes. Not to mention that if we make it at home, it will be 100% pure and free of preservatives and additives.

I have seen recipes for khoya dyed with saffron. Coconut is optional, I have found recipes with and without it. So if you don't like this ingredient, you can simply omit it. Since it is a preparation made with fresh cheese, we cannot keep it for more than 3-4 days and always refrigerated.

I assure you that if you want to surprise your family or friends with dessert, don't forget to prepare these Bengali Chum Chum. They are perfect to finish a meal or dinner, a dessert made with cheese and nuts is a guaranteed success, and you can also serve them with green tea, jasmine tea, spices.

You will be amazed, both in taste and texture. Take good note of the two ingredients we have prepared today, chenna and khoya, because more recipes using them await you.

Ingredients:

• 2 litre milk
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 5 tsp flour
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp rose water
• A few strands of saffron
• Few drops of food colour
• 200 gms cream

Recipe Method:

1. Bring the milk to a boil over a medium flame, add the lime juice and mix well. Stir occassionally. When the curds begin to separate, turn off the fire and leave milk aside for 20 minutes.
2. Strain the cheese and wash it under water and put the cheese in a cheesecloth and hang for a hour.
3. Put the cheese in a bowl and knead it till smooth. Add the food color and mix well. Sprinkle the flour to mix thoroughly. Mix sugar and water in a steam cooker and bring to a boil.
4. Divide the dough into small marble sized balls and roll between your palms till smooth. Gently press them into an oblong shape.
5. Add the balls to the sugar syrup and cover the cooker. Cover and wait for first whistle. Wait another 10 minutes and turn off the fire. Release the steam from the pressure cooker and allow the Cham-Chams to cool completely.
6. Pour the rose water, saffron and a little warm water on the Cham Chams and chill for few hours. Remove the Cham Chams from syrup and arrange in platter.
7. Whisk the cream till thick and fluffy. Fill into an icing bag and pipe a swirl out with a thick nozzle onto each Cham-Cham.
8. Garnish with slivers of your favorite dried fruit and serve.