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Jolbhora sandesh

A chhena sweet with a liquid centre of date palm jaggery, which is what the name means.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

Method

  1. A CHHENA SWEET WITH A LIQUID CENTRE OF DATE PALM JAGGERY, WHICH IS WHAT THE NAME MEANS. Its article takes the word apart first: JOL, MEANING 'WATER' OR 'LIQUID,' AND BHORA, MEANING 'FILLED,' REFERRING TO THE LIQUID FILLING AT THE CENTER OF THE SWEET. And it names the filling: a variant of sandesh, made from fresh chhena, it IS TYPICALLY FILLED WITH NOLEN GUR (DATE PALM JAGGERY SYRUP), ESPECIALLY DURING THE WINTER MONTHS.
  2. AND THE SHAPE IS FIXED TOO. It IS IN THE SHAPE OF ICE APPLE (TALSASH IN BENGALI) -- a blunt cone, narrower at the top, which is what the wooden moulds in Chandannagar cut. A dome will do and the cone is the right one.
  3. THE GUR MUST STAY LIQUID, WHICH IS THE WHOLE DIFFICULTY. Nolen gur is a winter syrup and it is thinner than jaggery. Do not heat it, do not reduce it, and do not mix it into the chhena: it goes in cold, by the half-teaspoon, into a hollow.
  4. MAKE THE CHHENA AND DRAIN IT FIRMLY. Milk boiled, split with lemon juice, strained through muslin and hung for half an hour. Wet chhena will not hold a hollow.
  5. KNEAD IT WITH THE SUGAR UNTIL IT IS SMOOTH AND SLIGHTLY WARM. Five minutes with the heel of your hand. Then two or three minutes over the lowest heat to tighten it -- stop well before it becomes a fudge.
  6. SHAPE A CONE AND PRESS A DEEP HOLLOW WITH YOUR LITTLE FINGER. Ten of them. The walls want to be thin at the sides and thicker at the point, which is where it will be held.
  7. FILL EACH HOLLOW AND SEAL THE TOP OVER. Half a teaspoon of gur, then the edges pinched together and smoothed. Any crack lets the syrup out as it sits.
  8. CHILL THEM AN HOUR AND EAT THEM THE SAME DAY. The surprise is the point and it does not keep. Its article places the sweet in Chandannagar, notes that it recently gained GI status, and records that chhena entered Bengali sweets through the Portuguese at Bandel.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes