Sandesh / Kacha golla / Traditional Bengali Sweet

Sandesh, the delicious North East Indian Sweet that is made from freshly curdled milk.

Sondesh can be served chilled or at room temperature makes it an ideal dessert to make in any kind of weather.

The history of Sandesh says its been present in Bengali homes since medieval times and usually made and gifted when a good news is shared, during Durga puja and other festivals. . . well, I don't need a reason to make sweets . .  u know me :)  A sweet that can be made within few minutes and takes less than that to pop it into the mouth and finish a plate full is too good to wait for an occasion :)

While the man savored a big tin of protein powder and looked down upon me for stuffing my face with sweets I had to secretly smile cos he doesn't know what he is missing! I failed to convince him that this is the pure form of protein ahh minus sugar of course... with the wicked motive of having a lion share :))) donoo if we were siblings in previous birth :))

Recipe: Adapted from here and here.
Ingredients: ( Yields around 20-25 pcs depending on the mold)
Whole Milk - 1/2 gallon(around 2 ltrs)
Sugar - 3/4 th cup
Cardamom powder - of 4 pods
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Pistachios - few crushed for decoration.
(Note: Reduce or skip sugar to make it for NO sugar diet dessert )
Method: 
Steps to make chenna /paneer:
1. Boil the milk and when it begins to rise immediately add lemon juice mix well once and wait for a few minutes so the milk curdles completely.Then add 2 trays of ice cubes. This stops the cooking process. Drain off the whey (the greenish water ) and keep aside. It is nutrient rich hence it could be used to make Whey Chicken.
2. Prepare a colander with two layers of cheesecloth on top of it and a bigger container under the colander to catch remaining whey flowing out. Onto the cheese cloth pour the milk solids and close the cloth by gathering the ends. Keep it tight then keep put a heavy weight so all the excess whey flows off. Leave it aside for one to  two hours.
Sandesh making steps from paneer:
3. Take out the milk solids and knead all the grains with the heel of ur palms till the whole milk solid becomes soft and smooth.
4. Now heat the milk solid in a non-stick pan for 5-6 minutes until the raw smell and taste goes away. Make sure to keep the heat to the lowest. Add cardamom powder give it a few more stirs remove from flame and add sugar and knead again till soft.

5. Apply oil/ghee to grease the serving platter. Grease any pretty looking mold  (I used vegetable oil). Take a small portion of the knead milk solid and press inside the mold until impressions transfer.Remove from mold carefully without damaging the shape and keep it directly on the platter u are going to serve in. Shape the entire milk solid in desired shapes and sizes.Repeat lightly greasing the mold for all portions.This ensures neat shapes and makes demolding easy.
6. Sprinkle some crushed / finely chopped pistachios on each Sandesh. Serve immediately or slightly chilled.

Sandesh stays good only on the day its made and tastes best when fresh.
Can be refrigerated up to two days.

Note:
If u keep boiling milk after curdling for long the texture of the milk solid will change and become grainy.
I have repurposed chocolate packing tray for the mold

Sending this recipe for Sonal's Holi collection on her blog Simplyvegetarian777.com

Hope u enjoy making Sandesh.
Meena