Chum Chum (Syrup-Cooked Cheese Dumplings)
چم چم
Chum chum (also called cham cham) are oval sweets of fresh cheese curds kneaded until silky, shaped and simmered in sugar syrup until they swell, turn spongy and soak up the sweetness. Sweet shops in Pakistan sell them pink, white and yellow, rolled in desiccated coconut or split and filled with sweet khoya. They're made with the same chhena technique as rasmalai, so once you've mastered one, the other is easy.
- ⏱ Total: 1 hr 10 min
- Prep: 40 min
- Cook: 30 min
- Hard
- Serves 12
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Bring the milk to a boil, take it off the heat for a minute, then stir in the lemon water. When it splits into curds and greenish whey, strain through muslin, rinse with cold water and hang for 30 minutes to drain.
Knead the chhena with the cornflour on a clean surface with the heel of your hand for 8–10 minutes, until completely smooth and slightly greasy. Shape into 12 smooth ovals with no cracks.
Boil the sugar, water, cardamom and colour in a wide pot. Slide in the ovals, cover and boil on medium-high heat for 15 minutes, then 10 more on medium. They will double in size.
Cool in the syrup for at least 2 hours. Lift out, squeeze very gently, then roll in coconut, or split and fill with sweet khoya. Top with pistachios.
Serve chilled.
Kitchen notes
Use cow's milk; buffalo milk gives a heavier chhena that can be hard and fall apart.
Knead until there are no grains left. Cracks in the dough mean the chum chum will split in the syrup.
Keep the syrup boiling vigorously at first; that's what makes them puff and turn spongy.
From Bengal to every sweet shop
Chum chum comes from Bengal, where the art of making sweets from fresh chhena developed, and it spread across the subcontinent with Bengali sweet makers. In Pakistan it’s a fixture of every mithai shop, especially popular in Karachi, and it’s a favourite in wedding and Eid boxes.
The chhena is everything
Success depends on the chhena. It must be drained well but not dry, then kneaded until perfectly smooth so it holds together while puffing in boiling syrup. This is the same skill used for rasmalai, and practice makes it easy.
Finishing
Coconut-coated chum chum are the simplest. Filled versions, split and piped with sweetened khoya or cream and topped with pistachios, are the sweet shop showpiece. Colour is optional: shops tint the syrup pink or yellow, but white chum chum taste exactly the same.
Outside South Asia
Chhena is easy to make anywhere from fresh whole milk and lemon juice. Use ordinary pasteurised cow’s milk, not UHT milk, which doesn’t split well. Desiccated coconut is sold in every supermarket, and khoya can be replaced by ricotta mixed with a spoon of milk powder and sugar.
Serving
Serve chilled with tea or as part of a mithai platter with barfi and kalakand.
Questions people ask
My chum chum broke in the syrup. Why?
Usually the chhena was too wet, not kneaded enough, or the syrup was too thick. Drain well, knead longer and keep the syrup thin.
How is it related to rasgulla and rasmalai?
All three use the same kneaded chhena cooked in syrup. Rasgulla is round and served in syrup, rasmalai is soaked in sweet milk, and chum chum is oval and coated or filled.
How long do they keep?
3–4 days in the fridge.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 190
- Protein
- 6 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 29 g
