During summers I love making mango desserts. Last year, I created recipes using mango pulp like mango rasmalai and mango tres leche cake. Fresh mangoes are here and we are super excited! Sandesh is a quick dessert which is popular during indian festivals like Navratri (Durga Puja), Poila Baiskah (Benagli New Year), Diwali. There are a ton of flavors when it comes to bengali sandesh. In this post, I am sharing recipe of mango sandesh or aam sondesh.Aam = Mangoes. My first taste of sandesh happened just after my wedding at my in laws house. Milky and soft, I instantly fell in love with its taste and simplicity. It is one of the most sublime bengali mithai (sweet) - light and faintly sweet. My husband’s grandmother taught me how to make a few bengali dishes like narkel naru (coconut ladoo), patishapta, chops, egg rolls etc. I was visiting during summers once and she taught me how to make mango sandesh using ripe kesar mangoes. Traditionally, sandesh is made using fresh made chena or chana. Chena is made by curdling milk using a curdling agent, similar to how paneer is made. See my post on homemade paneer here. You can use soft & moist ready made paneer as well. Fresh chena is then kneaded by hand until it is smooth, mixed with sugar or (more popularly with jaggery(nolen gur) and then slow cooked . Thereafter, wooden or metal sandesh molds are used to shape it into beautiful looking pieces. There is no shortcut to making sandesh, its an art form which pretty much like any kind of indian mithai, takes years of practice and patience to come by.
Why is Sandesh Called Sandesh?
Sondesh is a bangla word which is derived from Sandesh. Sandesh = News or Message. As is common tradition in indian culture, bengalis too carried a box of sweet when visiting family or friends to give them some good news or an invitation. A box of mishti (sweet) accompanied them and that’s how this sweet got its name.
Ingredients
In my recipe, I use just 4 ingredients. I dont use any flavors like cardamom or saffron because we prefer the pure, unadulterated taste of seasonal mangoes. If you are using mangoes at the peal of season, I suggest you do the same 🙂
Whole Milk - If you are making chena at home, use full fat or whole milk. Skim or toned milk won’t work. Dont use UHT (ultra homogenized) milk. Alternatively, use soft and fresh readymade paneer. Fresh Mangoes or Mango Pulp. Alphonso mango pulp from Deep foods is my favorite here in the indian stores in USA. Avoid using frozen mangoes. Vinegar- Or any curdling agent like lemon juice, sour yogurt etc Powdered Sugar. I simply add granulated sugar to a grinder and grind it.
What type of Mangoes to use for Mango Sandesh
Be it USA or India, there are a ton of mango varieties available in stores. For most indian mango dessert recipes including this one, I use honey or golden mangoes which are widely available in US stores. Honey mangoes are not that stringy and have a very luscious & intensely fruity flavor. If you are buying from indian stores, kesar mangoes or alphonso mangoes are good. I believe that when you are using fruits for making desserts, take your time to choose the best quality and ripe fruit so that all the effort you behind dessert making translates into delightful fruity flavor. Make sure that the mangoes are best quality, nicely ripe & super sweet before you use it for making sandesh.
How to Make Mango Sandesh
Preparing Mango Pulp & Fresh Chenna
Add mango slices and sugar to a blender jar and blend into a smooth pulp. Strain it once to make sure that the pulp is not stringy. Add milk to large pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, I added vinegar and let the milk curds separate till the whey is clear. You can use lemon juice or sour curd as well. Strain the curds using a cheesecloth lined colander/strainer. Bring ends of the cheesecloth together and squeeze very gently. Then, hang chena for 20-30 minutes to drain the excess liquid.
Kneading the Chena This is the most important step in sandesh making. Please stick to the times I have mentioned to make sure that the chena is smooth. Dont use blenders, you will be left with whipped chena which will be still grainy.
Add chena or paneer to a large wide plate and using gentle hands, knead the chena for 4 minutes. Avoid squeezing the chena or using knuckles while doing so. Thereafter, use the heel of your palm (lower palm) to press and smoothen out the chena for another 3-4 minutes. If the chena isn’t smooth, the sandesh will not have right texture. Mix kneaded chena with sugar and proceed to next step.
Cooking
To a wide pan (10 or 12 inch) add the mango pulp. To be on the safer side, I always prefer to use non stick pan. Cook the mango pulp on low heat stirring continuously for about 5-8 minutes until its thick and jammy. Add the kneaded chena and continue to cook for another 8-12 minutes stirring continuously using a spatula till it resembles a soft lumpy dough.
Shaping Sandesh
Storing
Store mango sandesh in a single layer in air tight boxes for a week. Serve it slightly cold. Sandesh dont freeze well, the taste changes.
Few Tips
Use a wide shallow plate for kneading the chena. I find that mixing bowls dont do the job. Kneading chena is slightly different that kneading flour for a dough. For firm hand strokes you need a wide plate. Knead the chena well for good 10 minutes. Use a timer. It should not be grainy. Chena comes together in a smooth dough ball at the end of kneading. Use a wide pan or kadai for cooking the sandesh mix. We want the moisture to evaporate and a large surface area of cooking utensil definite helps. You can reduce or increase the sugar quantity in this recipe depending on how sweet your mangoes are. You can use this recipe as it is if you want to flavor your sandesh with any other kind fruit like strawberries or pineapple. However, you cannot use this recipe to make plain sandesh with sugar or jaggery since the measurements will be off.
