The box arrived right on schedule.
I ripped it open.
There it all was, Tellicherry Peppercorns, Maple Sugar, Dulse Seaweed, Fennel Pollen, Smoked Sea Salt, Aji Panca Peruvian Chiles, Bourbon Vanilla Beans, Dried Porcini Mushrooms. There was my dilemma, what to do? What to make? Hot or cold, sweet or savory, mild or spicy? A lot of possibilities flashed through my head but I couldn't settle on any one thing. I knew I had to get moving on whatever it was. I was going to cook and I gave myself until Thanksgiving to make up my mind. I read. I did research. I decided that I'd go with the sweet.
I wanted to make it an Indian sweet but one that I'd never fixed before. Then I had it. Cheesecake. And not just any cheesecake, but the only cheesecake made in India, Chenna Poda from the state of Odisha. It turns out that cheesecake originated there about 50 years ago when a baker left some cottage cheese in a partially warmed oven. The next morning bingo! Cheesecake! I also decided on cheesecake because this is the time of year when all of us are involved in a lot of dessert fixing. Cheesecake always looks great on any Holiday table. As a matter of fact I think cheesecake looks great almost anywhere! I also wanted to create a recipe that would be a bridge between the type of cooking I do most of the time (Indian) and a very familiar dessert for most people.
I decided to make some chenna cheese for the filling. Of course I had to put my own spin on this cheesecake, so I thought I'd make it with a chocolate, chili, graham cracker crust with the aji panca chilis I'd been sent. I'd use the bourbon vanilla beans from the box to flavor it and the maple sugar as a sort of brulee topping. I would caramelize. I would buy a torch! I was excited! I was going to make
Indian Cheesecake With A Chocolate Chili Graham Cracker Crust and a Brulee Top
The first step involved making the Chenna Cheese. If you don't want to try making your own chenna cheese (it's pretty easy just click on the link above for directions) Ricotta cheese makes a great substitute.
Of course I use only the most sophisticated method in my cheesemaking. Note the high tech equipment.
Once the paneer cheese was made, it was one quick step to turn it into sweet chenna cheese. All that was needed was to add :
2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of flour
Place it in a bowl along with 2 packages of cream cheese.
Now for The Crust.
Seed and toast 1 large Marx Foods Aji Panca Chili Pepper. Put the pieces into a spice grinder until you have a fine powder.
1 pack of graham crackers
1 Tbs of Valhrona cocoa powder
1/4 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
the ground chili powder
Put the pan with the crust into the freezer for 30 minutes to set. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Now for The Filling.
All filling ingredients should be at room temperature.
In a large bowl beat together 2 packs of room temperature cream cheese along with 1 cup of chenna cheese and 1 cup of sugar.
Beat for about 2 minutes until it's nice and smooth.
Blend in:
1 egg yolk
2 Tbs of flour
Scrape in the seeds from one Marx Foods Bourbon Vanilla beans.
Blend for another 3 minutes or so. Don't over beat.
Take the pan from the freezer, set it on a cookie sheet. Pour the batter into the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 250 degrees and bake for another 1 and 1/2 hours. The cheesecake is done when it feels firm to the touch and yet the center is still a little jiggly.
Place on a cooling rack for one hour.
Okay, now here's something I learned the hard way. This cheesecake has to rest in the fridge for at least 6 hours before you can eat it. Overnight is better.
Waiting was hard, but boy was it worth it.
Now for the final touch. Before serving, sprinkle the top with Marx Foods Maple Sugar. Ignite a culinary torch and slowly moving it over the surface of the cheesecake but not touching it... melt the maple sugar.
Or if you haven't got a culinary torch, you can always go old skool with a salamander.
Heat it on the stove till it's red hot, then hold it over the sugar till it melts.
As soon as the sugar has set for about 5 minutes or so, have at it!
In India this cheese cake doesn't have a crust. In fact it's baked more like a flan with the sugar on the bottom of the pan, batter on top and then upended for serving. Making the cake the way I did crosses it with the version of the cheesecake we're all more familiar with... plus you get to play with a blow torch!
I want to thank the great folks at Marx Foods and Foodie Blogroll for giving me a chance to compete in the Iron Foodie 2010 competition. I hope when voting opens on the 7th you'll give me a vote. I loved my box of goodies and can't wait to do more experimenting with the ingredients I haven't used yet.
Oh MY!!!
ReplyDeletegreat luck in the contest. Do let us know if it is a voting thing, I would scream from the rooftops about this. Great work, well deserved!
@A Year on the Grill,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I'd never made any sort of cheesecake before let alone one that required flames. Yes, there will be voting starting on the 7th. I'll let everyone know how to do it.
Beautiful! Great job, Missy. You really made something beautiful. Do we vote? If so, *I* am stuffing the ballot box with your name!
ReplyDelete@Janis,
ReplyDeletethanks, voting starts on the 7th
Beautiful. Love the maple sugar glaze--looks like a winner!
ReplyDeleteFantastic.
ReplyDeleteThis is just amazing, this is perfect and creamy looking wonderful!
ReplyDeleteVery nice use of ingredients!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the entry! I like the way you made your cheese. Will copy
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy Cathy. Sadly we dont get cream cheese here and if its available its imported at a high price.
ReplyDelete@Shirley..yes it was excellent. I know it's just made with chenna cheese and nuts and raisins..I think next time I make it that's how I'll do it. It was my first time turning paneer cheese into chenna..now I'm ready for rasgullahs.
ReplyDelete@penny aka jeroxie,
ReplyDeletethanks so much..my "cheese making equipment" is pretty primative.
Looks lovely and delicious, kathy. Like the cottage cheese get transformed into such wonderful dessert.
ReplyDeleteHi Cathy, Your cheesecake looks amazing! I'm a true cheese cake connoisseur so this one is especially intriguing! I love all the Marx Foods ingredients!
ReplyDeleteGood luck in the competition...take a quick peek at my recipe for the challenge!
YUM!!! I love cheesecake and have never had one even remotely close to this one. Looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI can't comment on the cheese because I'm not familiar with it but I love the idea of the chili in with cocoa crust and the bruleé topping.
ReplyDeleteFantastic choice of ingrediants. Beautiful. Luna.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great entry! I would so go for a slice of this cheesecake! Glad you had so much fun with your dish! Thanks for participating and best of luck in the polls!
ReplyDeleteKathy, this looks awesome! I'm headed over to vote for you right now :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds amazing. I went over and already gave you a vote. Cheesecake sounds a lot better than most of the other entries!!
ReplyDeleteYou've got my vote. I can't believe you actually made your own cheese. It's also amazing how you were able to incorporate the sweet and savoury ingredients given,into such a beautiful cheesecake. I would give anything to try a slice.
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredible twist on cheesecake. Indian versatility at its finest.
ReplyDeleteJason
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