Nolen Gurer Sandesh......Date Palm Jaggery Fudge (Revisited)

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous NEW YEAR 2017. May this year brings lot of happiness in your life. Hope you all had enjoyed the festive season and the new year celebrations with your friends and families and of course with lot of food. 

For Indians, the festivities are not over yet. It's that time when we all celebrate the Harvest festival which is known as "Makar Sankranti" in India. We Bengalis called this festival as "Poush Sankranti" as this festival marks the ending of Bengali month called "Poush". This festival is also known for the reason of making "Pithes" so another name for this festival is "Pithe Parbon".

To embark this festival of "Pithes" I thought of making Gurer Sandesh with our favorite Nolen Gur or Date Palm Jaggery. Since, my parents came to visit us from India they had brought few beautiful molds which are used to shape these sandesh. This recipe is very simple to prepare, you just need to keep an eye so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. 

Let's begin with the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Whole Milk: 2 litres

2. Lime Juice: 3-4 tbsp

3. Date Palm Jaggery: 1/2 cup

4. Crushed Green Cardamoms (optional): 1 tsp

Method:

1. Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat. Stir it continuously as it tends   to stick to the bottom.

2. As milk starts boiling reduce the heat to low. Pour the lime juice in the milk and stir it. Milk will start cuddling and slowly it will turn into chena (cottage cheese). 

3. Strain the curdled milk with a muslin cloth or a strainer lined with cotton cloth. Once all the water gets drained wash the chena under cold running water. This helps the chena to cool down and will remove its sourness.

4. Squeeze the excess water from the chena (don't overdo it otherwise the chena will become too dry) and hang it on the kitchen tap for around an hour to remove any excess water. Now your chena is ready for making Sandesh.

5. Mash the chena with your palms until it's smooth. You need to do it for good 10-15 mins. As you do so your palms will become greasy which is due to the fat present in the chena. 

6. Place a non-stick pan on medium-high heat add 1/4 cup of water. Add the date palm jaggery and let it melt. When the jaggery is melted add the kneaded chena and mix well. Check for the sweetness and adjust it accordingly. At this point you can add the crushed cardamoms (optional).

7. Once the mixture come together take small amount in your hand and check whether it sticks to your hand or not. If the mixture doesn't sticks then it's done. Switch off the heat. Transfer the mixture to a greased plate. 

8. Brush the molds with clarified butter or ghee. Take small amount of mixture and shape it with the help of the molds. If you don't have molds then shape it into round balls or cut it into shape of your choice. Enjoy!!

Note:

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