Like all Bengalis I too grew up with three S being an integral part of my childhood. SANDESH or Sondesh, Satyajeet Ray, Oscar winning Filmaker, his films and Sonar Kella or The Golden Fortess a mystery film by Satyajeet Ray, which have all been instrumental in carving a whole treasure trove of indispensible memories. As Shonar Kella premiered in the theatres before I was born my first memories of the film was when I was about 10 or 11 years old, with a whole bunch of cousins of all ages, in my maternal grandparent's Home.
That house which has unfortunately been lost to modernisation had rooms which could at the same time house 100 people sitting down next to each other. I distinctly remember the room with windows as big as doors, where on a screeching projector and an old white bedsheet acting as the screen the whole noisy bunch of me and my cousins saw the film with regular supplies of Sandesh made by grandma and her troop comprising of grandaunts, aunts etc.
The film continues with Mukul going to RAJASTHAN in search of the Fortess from his drawings. Suddenly everyone in the room is quiet as there is a twist and the little boy gets kidnapped. There are some rumours which have preceded him that he knows about some fortress which has gold. Pin drop silence prevails and the whole bunch look, glued to the screen as Feluda the dectective makes his dramatic entry in an attempt to find and rescue Mukul.
Suddenly the door of the room in which we all are tucked in watching in total silence the movie opens and almost everyone in unison jumps up as their stoid attention from the screen is broken by grandma's /Dida's entry with mammoth sized platters of Sondesh. Her platter has everything, the soft delicate ones, the Kora Paker or the ones whose texture is made hard with more cooking, Jolbhora Sondesh which has a squishy liquidy sweet centre. It's hard to forget the taste of her handmade Sondesh and those memorable summer holidays with cousins and I so miss them and feel hopelessly nostalgic trodding through those memory lanes.
Friends Sondesh /Sandesh literally means sending a message. The Sandesh of today evolved from the age old tradition of sending sweets along with any good news, be it marriage, childbirth etc. in India. It is from this practice the Sandesh or sweet made out of Channa/Cottage Cheese came into being in Bengal.
In this Blog Hop post we decided to go the Mango Way, this being the mango season where different varieties are available in plenty. Now although Mango is available perennially but in season they taste their sweetest best. It is heartening to know that India is one of the largest producers of mango in the world. The king of fruits is much loved by people throughout our Globe.
Coming back to Sandesh, the one which I have made here is the traditional Sondesh recipe of my grandmom with a more modern take on it. It's a double decker Sandesh having two distinct layers and flavours. One layer is flavoured with Notun GUR or date palm Jaggery and the other layer has mango as its flavour. It's refrigerated and topped with Mango jelly to give it an ice-cream like feel. Many sweet shops in Kolkata are changing their sweets keeping the soul traditional but uplifting it in tune with more modern things.
And if like me you are huge Mango Fan then click these links below to discover some delicious and some very unique dishes made use Mango authored by a bunch of fantastic Bloggers.
MANGO AND DATE PALM JAGGERY DOUBLE DECKER ICE-CREAM SANDESH :
AUTHOR : PIYALI
YIELDS : 6 PIECES
CUISINE : INDIAN/BENGALI
TYPE : SWEETS / DESSERT
TIME : 30 MINUTES PREPARATION + 30 MINUTES COOKING + 5-6 HOURS REFRIGERATION
AAM AAR NOTUN GURER DOUBLE DECKER ICE-CREAM SANDESH RECIPE :
INGREDIENTS :
1) 400 Gms of Cottage Cheese/Paneer
2) 1 1/2 Tbsp Date Palm Jaggery/Notun Gur/Patali Gur
3) 2 Tbsp condensed Milk
4) 1 Tbsp Milk Powder
5) 1 Large Mango for Mango Pulp
6) 2 Tbsp Mango Jam
7) 1 Tbsp Pistachio chopped
MAKE SANDESH WITH ME IN EASY STEPS :
STEP 1:
Break the huge chunk of Notun Gur/Patali Gur /Date Palm Jaggery into smaller pieces with a pestle or a rolling pin. Grind the Jaggery into a fine paste. Chop 1/2 or 200 Gms from the chunk of Paneer /Cottage Cheese roughly into small cubes that you can wizz easily in a food processor. In a food processor add the pieces of cottage cheese, 1 1/2 Tbsp of jaggery from the ground jaggery, milk powder and condensed milk and wizz everything into a smooth lump less fine mixture.
STEP 2:
In a non-stick pan pour the mixture and on low flame continue stirring till the mixture thickens. You will know it is done when you see the non stick pan get oily and can gather the mixture in one place. Another way to know is to scoop out a little mixture with your spatula. If the mixture does not fall off easily from the Spatula then you know it is done. Do not over do the mixture as it will become crumbly and your SANDESH will break.
STEP 3:
In a square shaped bowl or a square baking tin pour the mixture after cooling it a bit. Please do not completely cool it or else you will not be able to set it. Either grease the base of the tin or use a cling film. With the help of your Spatula evenly flatten the surface of the mixture. Covet the tin/bowl tightly and place it in a refrigerator for one hour. Do not place in the freezer.
STEP 4:
Now take the remaing chunk of Paneer/Cottage Cheese 200gms and chop it roughly into cubes. Wash , peel and cube the Mango roughly removing the stone. In a food processor wizz both the Cottage Cheese and Mango cubes together into a smooth silky lump free mixture. Take a non-stick pan and transfer the mixture from the food processor to the pan. On medium heat stir continuously until the mixture thickens. Follow Step 2 to know when your mixture is done. Cool the mixture a bit.
STEP 5:
Take the tin out from the refrigerator. Over the first layer which would have set beautifully by now transfer this mixture from the pan and again using your spatula level it to give a nice shape. Cover the Tin tightly and again refrigerate for an hour. Microwave the Jam for 20-30 seconds in a bowl so that you can easily spread it over your set SANDESH. Again take the tin out of the refrigerator and using a spoon or spatula evenly spread the jam on top of the Sandesh. Now sprinkle the chopped pistachios evenly over the entire top layer of the Sandesh. Civer tightly with a lid and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and cut into small square shapes and serve your Sandesh.
CHECK LIST :
1) Cottage Cheese/Paneer, 2) Date Palm Jaggery/Notun Gur/Patali Gur, 3) Mango, 4) Condensed Milk, 5) Milk Powder, 6) Mango Jam, 7) Pistachios
NOTE :
- You can replace Date Palm Jaggery with Date Syrup. Quantity will remain the same. Taste will remain the same
- Use powdered sugar while wizzing the cottage cheese and Mango in Step 4 if your Mango is not sweet.
AAM AAR NOTUN GURER DOUBLE DECKER ICE-CREAM SANDESH RECIPE :
INGREDIENTS :
1) 400 Gms of Cottage Cheese/Paneer
2) 1 1/2 Tbsp Date Palm Jaggery/Notun Gur/Patali Gur
3) 2 Tbsp condensed Milk
4) 1 Tbsp Milk Powder
5) 1 Large Mango for Mango Pulp
6) 2 Tbsp Mango Jam
7) 1 Tbsp Pistachio chopped
MAKE SANDESH WITH ME IN EASY STEPS :
STEP 1:
Break the huge chunk of Notun Gur/Patali Gur /Date Palm Jaggery into smaller pieces with a pestle or a rolling pin. Grind the Jaggery into a fine paste. Chop 1/2 or 200 Gms from the chunk of Paneer /Cottage Cheese roughly into small cubes that you can wizz easily in a food processor. In a food processor add the pieces of cottage cheese, 1 1/2 Tbsp of jaggery from the ground jaggery, milk powder and condensed milk and wizz everything into a smooth lump less fine mixture.
STEP 2:
In a non-stick pan pour the mixture and on low flame continue stirring till the mixture thickens. You will know it is done when you see the non stick pan get oily and can gather the mixture in one place. Another way to know is to scoop out a little mixture with your spatula. If the mixture does not fall off easily from the Spatula then you know it is done. Do not over do the mixture as it will become crumbly and your SANDESH will break.
STEP 3:
In a square shaped bowl or a square baking tin pour the mixture after cooling it a bit. Please do not completely cool it or else you will not be able to set it. Either grease the base of the tin or use a cling film. With the help of your Spatula evenly flatten the surface of the mixture. Covet the tin/bowl tightly and place it in a refrigerator for one hour. Do not place in the freezer.
STEP 4:
Now take the remaing chunk of Paneer/Cottage Cheese 200gms and chop it roughly into cubes. Wash , peel and cube the Mango roughly removing the stone. In a food processor wizz both the Cottage Cheese and Mango cubes together into a smooth silky lump free mixture. Take a non-stick pan and transfer the mixture from the food processor to the pan. On medium heat stir continuously until the mixture thickens. Follow Step 2 to know when your mixture is done. Cool the mixture a bit.
STEP 5:
Take the tin out from the refrigerator. Over the first layer which would have set beautifully by now transfer this mixture from the pan and again using your spatula level it to give a nice shape. Cover the Tin tightly and again refrigerate for an hour. Microwave the Jam for 20-30 seconds in a bowl so that you can easily spread it over your set SANDESH. Again take the tin out of the refrigerator and using a spoon or spatula evenly spread the jam on top of the Sandesh. Now sprinkle the chopped pistachios evenly over the entire top layer of the Sandesh. Civer tightly with a lid and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and cut into small square shapes and serve your Sandesh.
CHECK LIST :
1) Cottage Cheese/Paneer, 2) Date Palm Jaggery/Notun Gur/Patali Gur, 3) Mango, 4) Condensed Milk, 5) Milk Powder, 6) Mango Jam, 7) Pistachios
NOTE :
- You can replace Date Palm Jaggery with Date Syrup. Quantity will remain the same. Taste will remain the same
- Use powdered sugar while wizzing the cottage cheese and Mango in Step 4 if your Mango is not sweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment