Simple Sandesh Recipe: {The Homespun Life – Food Blog}

It’s been quite a while since I had any adventures in the kitchen, largely because my kitchen has been packed away in a pile of boxes for about a month. So when some friends invited us over for Indian food last week I jumped at the chance to make dessert, and I decided on Sandesh.

Sandesh is one of the most popular, oldest, and traditional desserts in India. The basic recipe couldn’t be simpler – paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and sugar. From there, the chef can add pretty much any flavor or spice she can think of, though Sandesh are traditionally flavored with cardamom.

As I learned, though, the actual construction of these delicious truffle-like treats takes a skilled hand. Luckily, I had a professional on my side. I called my good friend Shormila for tips before getting started, and she simply passed the phone off to her mother, a proclaimed “Indian Dessert Expert”. Boy, was that the right move! She gave me very specific instructions, and thanks to her my experiment was a success.

If I’d been a true Indian chef, I would have made the paneer myself at home (curdling milk with lemon juice and straining with a cheese cloth), but I took Shormila’s mom’s advice and used whole milk ricotta cheese instead. (Interesting note: I could have gotten paneer at the local Indian grocery, but she warned me that the commercially-produced cheese had too much butter and cream in it and wouldn’t work well for Sandesh. Good to know!)

I wanted to make two batches, so I threw two small containers of cheese (15oz each) into a mixing bowl and patted them dry. I then added 1/3 the amount of sugar to cheese (10 oz), 1/4 the amount of powdered milk (about 7.5oz), and 2 Tbs of flour. I’ll admit that I wasn’t terribly precise with my measuring, but it worked out ok. I stirred the mixture until it was well combined and I was left with a batter-like consistency. I then separated out about half of the mix to use as my first batch. (Please forgive the poor photo quality – I haven’t figured out a good way to get natural light in this kitchen yet!)

Then came the tough part. Making sandesh basically just involves cooking all the moisture out of the cheese mixture without burning it or letting it get too dry. Shormila’s mom warned me that the only thing I could do wrong at this stage was to get impatient. Uh-oh. If you know me, you know that spells trouble! At one point, I did try to hurry the process and almost ended up burning the entire batch.

Anywho, I threw the first batch of cheese mixture into a small saucepan on medium-low heat (about a 3 on the electric stove we have here) and stirred. And stirred some more. And kept stirring. I stirred that stuff for over 30 minutes. I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome. But it finally began to come together.

When I began to see lots of bubbles rising to the top (you don’t want a rolling boil, but you do want bubbles) and the mixture began to noticeably thicken, I added my liquid flavoring (in this case, a dash of Orange extract and a dash of Grand Marnier). Then kept stirring. And stirring. Until the mixture finally reached a doughy consistency, pulling away from the sides of the pan and balling up in the middle. Like so:

I took the pan off the heat and threw it in the freezer to quick-cool it. (Making Sandesh involves rolling the dough into little balls, and I was in a hurry.) While that mix was cooling, I began on the second batch. The cheese mixture had become noticeably more watery while sitting, so I added about 3 Tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder to thicken and flavor.

Toward the end of the cooking process, I added a teaspoon or so of vanilla. Amaretto would also be good here, or coffee flavoring. So many options to try! Then it was time to roll the little guys. (Again, forgive the blue bowl – we’re living out of plasticware at the moment.)

I wanted a variety of flavors, so I rolled half of the orange batch in dark cocoa (not unsweetened) and the other half in coconut for a tropical taste. I topped each with a tiny dried strawberry for the final touch. The chocolate batch got the same coconut treatment on half, and a coating of crushed almonds on the other.

Delicious!

I love how most Indian dessert recipes allow for a lot of creative license when it comes to flavor. See, I love to bake – I’ve been addicted to it ever since I was 12 and my parents left me home alone for the first time, only to find when they returned that I’d baked a rather sad cocoa chiffon cake. (I used coca-cola where the recipe called for “soda”, and had to call my grandma to ask what a “bundt pan” was.) It must have been awful, but my folks ate their slices with relish.

Anyway, I like to think that over time I’ve become a little better in the kitchen, but while I still love to bake I sometimes get bored with the strict regularity of it. Baking is more science project than art, in my opinion – everything measured precisely with no room for error or experimentation. I enjoy the freedom of cooking with abandon, tossing spices around willy-nilly just to see what will happen. And that’s where Sandesh comes in – it’s a perfect mix (no pun intended) of both.

If you’ve got some time on your hands (it takes about an hour from start to finish for one batch), I strongly encourage you to try it! Experiment with flavors – cayenne or cardamom to add some heat, perhaps, or rose water and vanilla for a delicate treat. What flavor would you most want to try? Leave a suggestion in the comments – I’d love to try it out!