Like many of you there, I love this time of the year – the festive season in India! It’s time for family gatherings, friends, fun, and some great food. Good time to try out some homemade sweets!
Here’s my first recipe for the season. I am trying my hand in doing up a Bengali favorite – Sandesh. Made from fresh cottage cheese/paneer, it is indeed a delicious treat. One big plus of making sweets at home is that you are in complete control of the sugar that goes in.
You need –
- Whole milk – 1 liter
- Lime juice – 2 teaspoons
- Powdered sugar – 1/3 cup or to your taste
- Warm milk – 1 tablespoon
- A good pinch of saffron
- Few drops of Vanilla essence
How to –
Soak the saffron threads in the warm milk and set aside.
In a heavy bottom pan, bring the milk to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the lime juice. The milk will start to curdle and the whey will separate. As soon as you see the greenish water on top, turn off the heat.
Line a colander with cheesecloth and strain the chenna. Rinse the chenna under running tap water to remove the citric flavor. Now gather the corners of the cheesecloth, twist and squeeze to remove any excess water in the chenna. Hang the cheesecloth on the tap (as shown in the pic) or put it on a flat plate and weigh a heavy object on top to drain all excess water. Leave this for an hour.
Now remove the chenna from the cheese cloth and kneed with the your palm to a no lump and smooth ball (5-6 minutes). Now add the sugar (please add the sugar gradually to get the sweetness you desire), Vanilla essence and continue to kneed till chenna and sugar is well blend and smooth.
Heat a non stick pan over low heat and cook the chenna stirring continuously for 3-4 minutes or till it starts to leave the sides of the pan.
Turn off the heat and while still warm shape the chenna into desired shapes.
Garnish with the soaked saffron threads and drizzle little milk over the sandesh. You can also use some dried fruits or nuts to garnish.
Note :
- Shape your sandesh while the chenna is still warm else the the chenna will harden and they will not hold the shape.
Foodolicious Pictured 
so delicious.. tempting
Drooling. Loved it. You are right that when we make sweets at home we are in control of sugar.
Btw, did u use cow milk or normal whole milk. I am planning to make sandesh but was a bit wary as I have always made with cow milk.
this looks delicious! I love Indian sweets, never thought of making this although I now make paneer at home, thanks for introducing me to such gorgeous treat! And Happy Diwali to you. x
Its stunning and so good. Never tried it before but sure I feel like having a small bite.
Hi Huma, I have used normal whole milk 🙂
Loved the step by step pics, that is really very helpful, especially the making of paneer. Sandesh looks so cute and inviting.
I don't even feel like opening blogs in this season everyone has some or the other favorite sweet of mine:(
There is no out of reach ingredients here and sugar can be controlled but portion control ,I end up eating a lion share :)))
Sandesh does look yummy.
perfectly done and yummy sweet…beautiful clicks….
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Wow.. Love your step by step pictures.. beautiful.I am drooling here..
splendid! 🙂 looks so delicious n perfectly made
ur blogs template looks diff, did u change it ? I have tasted sandesh made by Preeti Deo ( blogger )and lovd it 🙂 I am far too lazy to make paneer at home and make this by myself, so let me just admire and appreciate u 🙂 Grt job gal 🙂
Bengali sweets are my favourite and after rasgullas sandesh are my all time favourite.. Seriously u r tempting me rite now..Wonderfully done.
Those pictures are making me super tempted …
gorgeous looking sandhesh….tempting clicks
Sandesh (along with so many other sweets) is something on my to do list 🙂 You have made it so well Rekha.
Looked at this picture on FB , and was wondering if you have used any APF or Cornflour in this recipe since I have seen people doing that. Even I make it the same way, its just so melty in mouth no… ? 🙂
Beautiful pictures Rekha !!! .. just so tempting
The sandhesh looks so tempting… Nice clicks
perfectly made…looks awesome…
Love love it. I feel like picking up one and enjoying it. Such a nice and simple sweet for all the festivities for the coming months. I love that you've made it plain with milk. Great.
Sandesh looks delicious and beautiful Rekha. Very nice click as usual.
Wow! Sandesh looks absolutely delicious Rekha.. I just feel like picking the one in the plate and having it right now 🙂
Wow!! i'm falling for it looks so so tempting and awesome clicks…
Love saffron desserts. Perfect for diwali 🙂