Diwali, paneer and chhena sweets

Cheeses for Diwali, paneer and chhena sweets

Diwali is the busiest week of the year for India's sweet shops, and much of what they sell is built on fresh curd cheese. Kalakand is milk and chhena cooked down into a soft, grainy fudge; ras malai is chhena dumplings soaked in thickened milk with cardamom and saffron. In Bengal and Odisha, where Kali Puja falls on the same new-moon night, sandesh and rasgulla fill the plates. At home the festive dinner very often includes a paneer dish, such as shahi paneer or matar paneer, because paneer is the vegetarian centrepiece that suits a feast. Boxes of sweets are exchanged with neighbours, colleagues and family.

The cheeses

PaneerThe pressed fresh cheese of the festive curry and of kalakand.ChhenaThe soft unpressed curd behind ras malai, sandesh and rasgulla.