Chhanabora is a

sweetmeat Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categorie ...

from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

made from

chhena Chhena () or chhana () are a style of cheese, originating from the Indian subcontinent, made from water buffaloDalby, A 2009, ''Cheese: A Global History'', Reaktion Books, p. 73, Kapoor, S & Kapoor, A 2006, ''Sanjeev Kapoor's No-oil Vegetarian C ...

and

syrup In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...

. It is attested from the 16th century. It is related to

rosogolla Rasgulla, also known as rasagola, rosogola or rosogolla, is a syrupy dessert popular in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It is made from ball-shaped dumplings of chhena and semolina dough, cooked in light sugar syrup made of suga ...

and

pantua Pantua ( bn, পান্তুয়া) is a local confection from the Indian subcontinent, notable in West Bengal, Eastern India and Bangladesh. It is a traditional Bengali sweet made of deep-fried balls of semolina, chhena, milk, ghee an ...

, sharing a cottage cheese basis with the former and a burnt brown crust with the latter. According to local legend, it was created when Maharaja Manindrachandra Nandi of

Cossimbazar Cossimbazar is a sub-urban area of Berhampore City in the Berhampore CD block in the Berhampore subdivision in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal."Cossimbazar" in ''Imperial Gazetteer of India'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, ...

ordered his cook to create a dessert that was neither rosogolla nor panta. It is common in

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. Durin ...

and outsize chhanabora are a common gift for high-ranking visitors.

References

Sweets of West Bengal Bengali desserts Indian cheese dishes {{Bangladeshi dishes