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Porabari chomchom
পোড়াবাড়ির চমচম (Porabarir chomchom): Tangail's long chhana sweet cooked in syrup until reddish-brown
Porabari is a small village on the river Dhaleshwari near Tangail town, and for more than a century its sweet-makers have been turning out the most famous chomchom in Bangladesh: oblong, dense chhana sweets cooked for a long time in syrup until their outsides turn a deep reddish brown and the inside is juicy, fine-grained and slightly firm. Each one is rolled in a dusting of mawa, dried milk, and they are bought by the box for weddings, Eid and every kind of good news. Undercooked chomchom are pale and spongy instead of dense, so the cardinal sin here is rushing the syrup; the sweets need well over an hour. Chef's tip: caramelise a few spoons of sugar before adding the rest of the syrup ingredients, which gives the authentic burnished colour without burning the sweets.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the chhana
- 8 ¼ cups full-fat milk
- 4 tbsp lemon juicemixed with 4 tbsp water
- 1 tsp rice flour
For the syrup
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 ⅛ lb sugar
- 6 ¼ cups waterplus extra hot water as needed
- 4 green cardamom podslightly crushed
For the mawa dust
- 1 ¾ oz full-fat milk powder
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Bring 8 ¼ cups full-fat milk to the boil, take it off the heat for 1 minute and add 4 tbsp lemon juice gradually, stirring, until it splits into curds and clear whey.
10 minStep 2: Drain through muslin, rinse with cold water, squeeze well and hang for 30 minutes; it should feel moist but firm.
30 minStep 3: Knead the chhana with 1 tsp rice flour on the worktop with the heel of your hand for 8–10 minutes until completely smooth and slightly greasy. Shape into 10 smooth logs, 6 cm long, with no cracks.
10 minStep 4: In a wide, deep pan, heat 3 tbsp sugar over a medium heat without stirring for 4–5 minutes until it melts and turns deep amber.
5 minStep 5: Carefully pour in 6 ¼ cups water (it will spit), add 1 ⅛ lb sugar and 4 green cardamom pods and stir until the caramel dissolves; bring to a rolling boil.
5 minStep 6: Slide in the chhana logs, cover and boil hard for 25 minutes; they will swell to about double. Shake the pan rather than stirring.
25 minStep 7: Uncover and keep boiling for 35–45 minutes, adding a few spoons of hot water whenever the syrup gets very thick, until the chomchom are reddish brown, feel heavy and sink.
40 minStep 8: For the mawa dust, toast 1 ¾ oz full-fat milk powder with 1 tsp ghee in a dry pan over a low heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty but is still pale; cool and mix with 1 tbsp icing sugar.
3 minStep 9: Cool the chomchom in their syrup for at least 1 hour, then lift out, drain and roll in the mawa dust.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does porabari chomchom take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 50 minutes to prepare and 70 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
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