Sandesh ( ''Shôndesh'') is a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

, originating from the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

region in the eastern part of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, created with milk and sugar. Some recipes of ''sandesh'' call for the use of

chhena Chhena () or chhana () is a kind of acid-set cheese originating in the Indian subcontinent that is made from water buffaloDalby, A 2009, ''Cheese: A Global History'', Reaktion Books, p. 73, Kapoor, S & Kapoor, A 2006, ''Sanjeev Kapoor's No-oil V ...

paneer Paneer (), is a fresh acid-set cheese, common in cuisine of South Asia, made from cow milk or buffalo milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting soft cheese made by curdling milk with a fruit- or vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice. Pa ...

(which is made by curdling the milk and separating the whey from it) instead of milk itself. Some people in the region of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

make a variety of ''sandesh'' called ''pranahara'' (literally 'heart stealer') which is softer and made with ''mawa'' and

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

. The Gupo/Gufo style of ''sandesh'' from Guptipara is considered by some to be the "first branded sweet of Bengal".

History

Khoa Kheerer Sandesh- Kolkata- West Bengal- IMG 8238

A sweet dish by the name ''sandesh'' is mentioned in

medieval Bengali literature The term Middle Bengali Literature (), refers to the literature written in the form of the Bengali language known as Middle Bengali. It was a period in the history of Bengali literature. This period dated from 14th to 18th centuries, following the ...

, including Krittibas' Ramayana and lyrics of

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; ), born Vishvambhara Mishra () (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindus, Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bha ...

. However, the ingredients of this original dish are not known. This dish was most likely made of solidified

kheer Kheer, khir or payasam is a pudding or porridge popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice. It can be additionally flavoured with dried fruits, nuts, cardamom and saffron. Instead of rice, ...

, thus being different from the modern chhena-based sandesh. It is hard to determine when exactly ''sandesh'' started referring mainly to the chhena-based sweet instead of the kheer-based sweet. However, it is known that by the second half of the 19th century, sandesh commonly referred to the chhena-based sweet.

Preparation

Sweets at a shop in Salkia Chourasta in Howrah

''Sandesh'' can be made with the use of

or paneer. The simplest kind of ''sandesh'' in Bengal is the ''makha sandesh'' (makha, meaning 'kneaded'). It is prepared by tossing the chhena lightly with sugar over low heat. When shaped into balls, it is called ''Kanchagolla'' (''kancha'', meaning 'raw' and ''golla'', meaning 'ball'). For more complex and elaborately prepared ''sandesh'', the chhena is dried and pressed, flavored with fruit, and sometimes even colored, and cooked to many different consistencies. Sometimes it is filled with syrup, blended with coconut or kheer, and molded into a variety of shapes such as conch shells, elephants, and fish. Another variant is ''nolen gurer sandesh'', which is made with gur or

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

. It is known for its brown or caramel colour that comes from ''nolen gur''.

References

External links

Sweetmeats
on ''

Banglapedia ''Banglapedia:'' ''the'' ''National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh'' is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia. It is available in print, CD-ROM format and online, in both Bengali and English. The print version comprises fourteen 500-page volumes. The ...

'' {{Cheese dishes Bengali cuisine Indian desserts Sweets of West Bengal Bangladeshi desserts