Pheni is a traditional dessert made with vermicelli and milk. But with – Chef Shweta expect a twist 😉. We will prepare Pheni but present it as a cheesecake and top it up with seasonal fruits. Hope you like the fusion and enjoy it cooking as I did 😃. Share me your views on how was the experience of having traditional Indian dessert with modern flavours 😎

⏰ ^{Prep Time : 20 mins, 🍲 Cooling Time : 4-5 hours, Overnight preferable, 🍴 Servings : 8-10 cheesecakes}

🌾 Ingredients for Pheni Cheesecake :

What do you need for crumbly Crust ?

o   200 gms Pheni

o   1-2 tbsp Condensed milk

o   1 tsp Cardamom powder

o   Coconut oil, to grease the moulds

What Cheesecake is made up of ?

o   ¼ cup Agar-agar flakes

o   1 cup Water, to soak agar-agar

o   2 tbsp Condensed milk

o   4 tbsp cooking Cream

o   1 tbsp Peanut butter

o   1 tsp Cardamom extract

What toppings to have ?

o   ¼ cup Frozen Strawberries, or any of your choice

o   Water to sprinkle

o   White chocolate, to drizzle

o   Sliced Pistachios, or any nuts (optional)

 

♨️ Preparing Pheni Cheesecake :

1. Take a heavy bottom pan and soak agar-agar flakes into water
2. Leave it aside for 20 mins. Do not switch-on the flame yet
3. We’ll prepare the curst in the meanwhile. Take a wok and roast pheni at medium low heat for 5-7 mins or until pheni turns light brown in color. Avoid over-roasting it as it might turn bitter
4. Add condensed milk and cardamom powder
5. Stir at low flame for 2-3 mins or until mixture comes together. Adjust condensed milk quantity to bring the crust mix together
6. Remove from flame and allow it to cool
7. Place cling film on detachable moulds and grease with coconut oil for ease demoulding. You can take any mould, I have used tart and silicon moulds
8. Spread the cooled pheni mixture as a crust on the moulds and press it evenly with finger tips or spoon
9. Now place it into freezer for not more than 20 mins, to set nicely
10. Remember we had soaked agar-agar 😉, let us now place that pan on stove at high flame
11. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat and cook at medium flame for 15 mins or until agar-agar flakes are completely dissolved
12. Let’s utilize time by parallelly preparing cheesecake. Take a heavy-bottom pan and pour condensed milk, cream and peanut butter
13. Bring it to a boil and cook for 5-7 mins at low flame or until the batter is well incorporated
14. Check if agar-agar is liquefied, if so sieve it
15. Now add this sieved water to cheesecake batter and cook for another 2-3 mins at medium-low flame
16. Remove the cheesecake mix from flame, add cardamom extract and mix well. Let it slightly cool on kitchen counter
17. Take the pheni crust from freezer
18. Pour this cheesecake batter on the crust
19. Leave it on counter to let it come at room temperature
20. Once it’s cooled refrigerate overnight for better results else, keep it at least for 3-4 hours if time-pressed. Before eating always let it stand at room temperature for 20-30 mins

🍽 Assembling Pheni Cheesecake :

1. Take a pan and place frozen / thawed strawberries. If using fresh strawberries, then reduce the cooking time
2. Cook for 4-5 mins with some water
3. When you see, the strawberries are softened, remove from flame and allow it to cool
4. Take the cheesecake from the refrigerator and pour the strawberry sauce 😋
5. Sprinkle some nuts over strawberries
6. Melt white chocolate in microwave for few seconds
7. Drizzle over the cheesecake and voila Pheni cheesecake 🍰 is ready to delight your loved ones for any occasion