Chhena poda
Odisha's baked cheese sweet: chhena with sugar and cardamom, baked until its outside caramelises.
Also: ଛେନା ପୋଡ଼, chhena pora, burnt cheese
Chhena poda means burnt chhena in Odia, and it is the best-known sweet of Odisha after rasagola. Fresh chhena is kneaded with sugar, semolina and cardamom, sometimes with cashews and raisins, packed into a tin or traditionally wrapped in sal leaves, and baked slowly for hours, once in the dying heat of a wood fire. The sugar on the outside caramelises into a dark brown crust while the inside stays soft and moist, rather like a dense cheesecake. It is said to have been created by a confectioner in Nayagarh district in the twentieth century. It is offered at the Jagannath temple in Puri and is sold by the slice in sweet shops across the state.