Remember when I tried to make Rasgulla with almond milk? I knew not to make that mistake with Sandesh, which requires condensed milk in its recipe. Even though I don’t particularly like dairy products, I’ll make an exception for Sandesh. Sandesh is a Bengali confectionary that you find in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent; typically West Bengal, however, it can also be found in Bangladesh. In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, they call it Pranahara; it’s a softer, more plush kind of Sandesh made with curd essence rather than the ingredients of the West Bengal which are sugar and chenna.

Like all confectioneries, everything needs to be exact, no matter how little ingredients or how easy it may seem. This is not the case with Sandesh; it is extremely easy to make. Depending on various recipes, you toss chenna lightly with sugar over a low flame, and knead into balls called Kanchgolla. “Kanch” means raw, and “golla” means ball. Typically, you leave it hot to knead. There are a variety of Sandesh you can make or get at the store; some add fruits to them and some may add pistachios or make completely different types of it using different recipes. What’s interesting about it is that the ingredients of the original dish are unknown, so there is basically free reign as long as you follow the basic recipe. 

Sandesh is normally served as a dessert, but I have also seen other Hindus offer it to God as prasad or for people to take from the temples before they leave. It’s interesting to see that this seemingly very simple sweet produces a ton of variety in its recipes, as well as many events you can offer and enjoy them.