Chamcham Recipe

Chamcham is a popular Bengali sweet made from chhena (cottage cheese) that is dipped in sugar syrup and flavored with cardamom. Let's get started on preparing this recipe at home.

Recipe Yield: 6 servings

Overall Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Preparation Time
Boiling milk, curdling, and straining chhena	Approximately 20 minutes
Kneading chhena, shaping into rolls, and preparing sugar syrup	Approximately 10 minutes
Total Preparation Time: Approximately 30 minutes

Cooking Time
Cooking chhena rolls in sugar syrup	5 minutes initially + approximately 40 minutes after the whistle
Total Cooking Time: Approximately 45 minutes

Ingredients for Chamcham

• 1 litre full-fat milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp semolina for binding
• Optionally, you may add coconut desiccated 1 tbsp for garnishing.

Ingredients for Sugar Syrup

• 1 cups sugar
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Instructions:

1. Pour the milk into a large pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat to low flame so that it does not overflow from the vessel.
2. Add the lemon juice to the milk and stir continuously to start the curdling process and form chhena (cottage cheese). Then, turn off the heat.
3. Using a muslin cloth, strain the chhena and squeeze out any excess water. You can also rinse the chhena in cold water to remove any sourness from the lemon juice.
4. In a large plate, knead the chhena with the help of your palms until it forms a smooth dough. While kneading, add 1 tbsp of semolina to help bind the chhena. Additionally, add a pinch of baking powder to ensure the chamcham turns out spongy.
5. Divide the dough into small portions and roll them into cylindrical shapes about 2 inches long.
6. In open cooker, add sugar and water, bringing it to a boil only (no need for any wire in the sugar syrup). Stir until the sugar dissolves completely.
7. Gently add the chhena rolls to the sugar syrup one by one and let them cook on medium heat, just covered with a lid (do not lock the cooker), for only 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the size of chamcham slightly increases. Now lock the cooker and wait for a whistle. After one whistle, turn the flame low and then cook chamcham for the next approximately 40 minutes.
8. After 40 minutes, open the cooker, you will find the cooked chamcham in a beautiful, nice color. The chhena rolls will have doubled in size, and the sugar syrup will have thickened. Now, add 1/2 tsp cardamom powder for enhancing flavor and turn off the heat and let it cool down completely.
9. Serve the chamcham chilled, garnished with desiccated coconut powder and chopped nuts like pistachios or almonds.
Enjoy your homemade chamcham, a delicious and popular Bengali Cuisine!

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