Paan Cheesecake- creamy, eggless cheesecake with flavors from paan (betel leaves), gulkand (rose petal jam) and fennel! If you love meetha paan, then you are going to love this Indian fusion cheesecake made in the Instant Pot!
9-10digestive biscuitsaround 1.25 cups cookie crumb, or you can use any graham cracker, parle-g
4tablespoonsbutter57 grams, you can use either salted or unsalted
1tablespoongranulated white sugar13 grams
Filling
1/2cup + 2 tablespoonsheavy cream150 ml
5largepaan leaves20 grams, betel leaves
1teaspoonfennel seeds
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoonsour cream95 ml, at room temperature
12ozcream cheeseat room temperature
1/2cupgulkand 100 grams, rose petal jam
1/2cupgranulated white sugar50 grams
2teaspoonskewra water10 ml, or use rose water
2tablespoonscornstarch25 grams
tutti frutti, candied fennel, desiccated coconut, white chocolate- for garnishing
Instructions
Before you start, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature.To a food processor add the digestive biscuits and pulse until you get crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a large bowl and add 1 tablespoon sugar and melted butter to it. Mix until everything is well combined and mixture resembles wet sand.
Transfer this to a 7.5 inch springform pan. Press with a bowl or back of your spoon to push the crumbs tightly into the pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
To make the filling, first to a blender add heavy cream, paan leaves (remove the stalk), fennel seeds and sour cream. Blend to a smooth paste. Set this aside.
To the steel bowl of your stand mixer or use your hand mixer, add room temperature cream cheese, gulkand and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until it's all smooth and creamy.
Now, add the prepare paan leaves paste and mix until combined. You can also add few drops of green food color at this point.
Finally add the cornstarch and mix. Do not over beat the mixture. The filling is now ready.
Take the pan out of the freezer and pour the filling over the crust. Tap the pan 2-3 times on the counter - this remove the air bubbles from the batter.
Now place a paper towel on top of the pan and then place an aluminum foil on top of that. Take another large sheet of aluminum foil and fold it several times to a form a long sling. Place that sling underneath the pan, so that you can lift the pan using the sling.
Add around 2 cups water in the inner steel pot of your Instant Pot. Place a trivet inside the pot (I use a long leg trivet and not the one that comes with IP) and then lift the pan using the sling and place it on top of the trivet. Close the lid and press the manual or pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure fir 39 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually. Most likely, all the pressure will release on it's own in 15 minutes.
Open the lid and then carefully lift the pan from the pot using the sling. Place it on a wire rack and them remove the foil and paper towel. If there's any condensation on top of the cheesecake, use a paper towel to carefully pat dry it. The center of the cheesecake might jiggle a little at this point and that's fine. It will continue to cook as it cools down.Let it cool on wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully run a knife around the cheesecake. Do not remove the sides at this point, we just want to separate the cheesecake a little from the pan- this prevents cracking. Let it cool down further for 1 to 2 hours and then transfer to the refrigerator overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.
Once chilled, remove the sides of the pan carefully. Then using 2 spatula, carefully detach the cheesecake from the base and lift it and transfer to serving plate/board. Garnish with tutti frutti, desiccated coconut, candied fennel. You can also drizzle some white chocolate on top before serving! I like to let the cheesecake sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes or so before serving (tastes best this way). Enjoy this refreshing paan cheesecake!
Oven Baking Instructions
Please read about water bath before and wrap your pan well in 2-3 sheets of foil so that there's no leakage. Bake the crust at 350 F for 6 to 7 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 300 F degrees and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (do use water bath, refer to the blog post "new york style cheesecake" to read about it, link in the main blog post). The center of the pan should jiggle when you take it out of the oven. Let cool at room temperature for 1-2 hours and then chill overnight in the fridge.
Notes
Please refer to this post if you are baking this in the oven. Read about water bath and follow the same steps if baking this cheesecake in the oven.