Today I am going to share how to make authenticate Chanar Dalna / Cottage Cheese Curry recipe (vegetarian dish) at home with all of you. The taste of the Chanar Dalna Curry is really very good without any onion and garlic.The softness of the Chana / Cottage Cheese Patty makes this recipe really special. It’s a very simple and less time consuming to make at home.
I believe many of you, like my husband loves to eat Chanar Dalna (Cottage Cheese) rather than panner. Chanar Dalna is one of the popular and signature Bengali Vegan dish. I learnt this recipe from by mother, when I was in India. She prepares this at its best.
General Issues with Cottage Cheese Curry / Chanar Dalna:
Even this is a well known recipe, I have noticed for many common issues when had this in past, such as:
- The Cottage Cheese Patty tastes very tangy.
- The Patty becomes hard.
- The Patty lacks proper seasoning.
You can make this recipe with very few and simple ingredients, which are mostly always available to your home. Generally we are eating vegan dish in every Saturday, so I prefer to make this Chanar Dalna recipe on every alternative Saturday.
Health Benefits:
Homemade cottage cheese has lots of health benefits. Cottage Cheese is filled with protein, vitamins and minerals. Cottage Cheese has also an extremely high biological value, and which is very helpful for muscle growth. Although the cottage cheese also high in calcium, helps to increase the both strength and density.
Cottage Cheese / Chana :
Since I don’t like to have milk very much, I try to eat Cottage Cheese with sugar at home. However this Cottage Cheese Curry recipe is very delicious and tasty.
How to make Cottage Cheese Curry | Chanar Dalna:
- 1.5 Liter Full Cream Milk
- 1 Whole Lime (I used lime juice for curdling the milk)
- 1½ Cup Chana
- 1 -2 Teaspoon Green Chili Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- Salt (as needed)
- 1½ Teaspoon Sugar (according to your taste)
- 1 Tablespoon Ghee
- 2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2-3 Tablespoon Maida/All-purpose flower
- 1 teaspoon Whole Cumin
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Whole Red Chili
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Green Chili Paste
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon Red Chili Sauce
- 1 Medium Size Potato
- Salt (as per taste)
- Sugar (as needed)
- 3 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 1-2 Tablespoon Ghee
- 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 ½ Cup Warm Water (for gravy)
- Take a big deep vessel pan and start boiling the milk.
- Once the milk starts bubbling, reduce the flame and start adding the lime juice little by little.
- Stair it continuously to curdle the milk.
- Within a few min water will start separating from curdle milk.
- Turn-off the flame and drain the curdle milk using a clean muslin cloth and then tie a knot.
- Now place it in the sink and put a weight over cloth to extract excess water.
- Take out the chana from cloth.
- Take the Chana/Cottage Cheese in a plate, add salt, sugar, red chili powder, green chili paste, ghee ,baking powder, maida and mix them properly.
- Now make some small patty using them and keep them aside.
- Take a skillet, add little bit of oil and shallow fry the patty until they turn to lightly golden brown.
- Keep the chana patties aside.
- At first cut the potato in medium sized cubes then fry them with salt and turmeric powder.Keep it aside.
- Take a skillet, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and when the oil is hot enough add 1 teaspoon of whole cumin, bay leaf, and whole red chili and wait for few second until the aroma comes out.
- Add ginger paste and sauté for few second. Now take a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon green chili,1 tablespoon tomato sauce,1 tablespoon red chili sauce,1 teaspoon turmeric powder,1 /2 teaspoon red chili powder,1 teaspoon coriander powder,1 cumin powder, sugar , salt and add little bit of water, make a smooth paste.
- Now pour this smooth paste in the skillet and cook for few minutes until the oil starts to come out from the masala.
- Add fried potato and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
- Now it is time for add 1-2 cups of warm water.
- Cook in a medium flame for 10 minutes covering the pan with lid, when the water starts boiling add the shallow fried chana patties.
- Meanwhile adjust the salt and sugar.
- Before turning-off the flame, add ghee and garam masala powder and mix them properly.
- Now your yummy “Chanar Dalna” is ready to be served. Serve it with plain rice or roti.
Don't keep the weight (step 6) for long, otherwise the Chana/Cottage Cheese become very dry. It will be difficult to make a patty.