Sandesh

When exactly should the cooking stop?

At the moment the mass leaves the sides of the pan and holds a ridge when you draw the spoon through it. Beyond that point the protein tightens and the sweet sets chalky and crumbly instead of soft. Five to seven minutes over the lowest flame is usually enough. The mixture will look underdone when you take it off, and it should, because it firms considerably as it cools. Judging it by how it looks hot in the pan is exactly how it gets overcooked.

What is the difference between kancha golla and the cooked kind?

Kancha golla is uncooked: chhena and sugar kneaded together and shaped without going near a flame. It is softer, tastes fresher and lasts a day at most. The cooked version keeps for several days and will take an impression from a mould. Norom pak means lightly cooked and soft, koda pak means cooked further and firm enough to carve, and all three begin with the same chhena.

Why is my sandesh grainy?

Either the milk was split at too high a heat or the chhena was not kneaded enough. Milk brought to a hard boil and then acidified gives tough curds that no amount of work will smooth out, so take the pan off the flame first. If the chhena itself is good and the texture is still grainy, keep kneading: six minutes is the minimum, and the change in the last two is the one you can feel.

Can jaggery replace the sugar?

Yes, and nolen gur, the date palm jaggery that appears in winter, is the classic version. It goes in at the end of cooking rather than at the start, because a long time over heat with jaggery can make the chhena weep. Ordinary cane jaggery works, tastes heavier and turns the sweet brown. Nutritionally the swap changes very little whatever is claimed for it, as jaggery, honey or sugar sets out.

How much protein does sandesh really carry?

More than any other common Indian sweet, because it is almost entirely chhena. Paneer and chhena are the same curd at different moisture levels, and 100 g of paneer holds around 18 g of protein, so a batch made from a litre and a half of milk spreads a substantial amount across twelve pieces. That does not turn it into a protein food, since sugar rides along with it, but it does explain why one piece satisfies in a way that one rasgulla does not.

Does it keep?

Three to four days in a closed box in the refrigerator, hardening as it sits because it goes on losing moisture. Leave it out for fifteen minutes before serving so the texture comes back. It does not freeze. If a batch has already overcooked and set crumbly, warming it with a spoonful of milk and kneading again will rescue it well enough to shape. Milk solids and what heat does to them are covered properly in the dairy nutrition course.