Sondesh Or Sandesh

First make the Chhana or Paneer :

  Take a pan add little water in it and then add the milk, place the pan on oven and bring the milk to boil.

  When the milk will start boiling add vinegar + water to the milk. Do not add all the vinegar + water at a time. Add little by little and when all the vinegar + water will be added, turn off the oven and set aside the pan for 10 minutes for curdle all the milk (do not stir the milk after adding vinegar + water, the chhana will be harder).

  After 10 minutes take a cheese cloth on a large strainer and strain all the excess water of the chhana. Take the strainer under the tap and run cold water to remove the sourness of the chhana.

  Squeeze the cheese cloth to remove excess water and hang the cheese cloth from the kitchen tap along with the chhana to remove any excess water is left inside the chhana for 30 minutes.

  After30 minutes take the cheese cloth and squeeze to remove if any water was left inside the chhana.

Making the Sondesh :

  Now take a plate or bowl and mash the chhana with your palm. Mash the chhana to make it smooth for at least 5 to 10 minutes. If you have a food processor then, add the chhana and blend a little to get a smooth texture.

  Add the cardamom powder or crashed cardamom and knead the chhana again for 5 minutes. Now add the soft gur or sugar and gently mix with the mashed chhana and knead for another 5 minutes.

  Now take a clean non-stick pan and heat it on low medium heat.

  When it is little how add the chhana mixture and stir with a spatula for few minutes. Now take out the warm chhana and again kneed it for a while. If you find the chhana little crumbly and hard to mash, then use a blender and blen for few seconds. You'll get the smooth texture of Sandesh. Take the smooth chhana on a plate & immediately shape with molds or just toss into balls.

  If you wait, it will harden and you cannot shape it. If you do not stir the chhana mixture on hot non-stick tawa it's totally fine. You can still make sondesh with the mixture.

  It will call Kanchagolla. Enjoy Authentic Bengali Sweet Sondesh.