Chocolate Sondesh : Lightly sweetened chocolate and paneer balls.
This is going to be another rant post! If you do not like my ranting feel free to jump right into the recipe. Otherwise get a cup of tea or coffee before you start reading.
Or maybe a glass of wine?
After preparing dal, aloo posto and tandoori cauliflower on Saturday, my husband and I decided to go to the Boston Public Market. The market opened after 100 long years, and it was certainly worth the trip. We bought fresh meat, nuts, apple butter, and beers. Saturday was all good. Now here comes the horrifying and deadly Sunday that I experienced.
I started preparing the dessert at 8am with the hope that I would finish shooting and cleaning by 12. I made my first batch of sweets with a gallon (4 litres) of milk. I was not happy with the texture, even though my mum kept saying, “That’s how it looks like”. I was not happy as they were not “Camera friendly”. I decided to make another batch with a half-gallon (2 litres) of milk that was leftover. It came out the same again. After 4 hours and 1 1/2 gallon milk, I gave up. My mom and husband kept telling me -“Why did you not take any pictures?”. I was not happy with the texture and decided not to blog.
Then I prepared a typical Bengali chicken and potato curry. It’s ma’s recipe, and she has been cooking that same recipe for 40 years. It was a lip-smacking curry. I decided to take some pictures before I put it aside. Then my cleaner came at 3, and I was cleaning the apartment with her. After she was done, my husband was saying -“You look like a wreck today.” And why wouldn’t I be? I prepared something that tasted good and authentic, but it just wasn’t photogenic.
The whole evening I was in a dilemma -“Blog or not to blog”. I asked my husband many times, “What should I do?” He said, “Is not your blog about food? Does that not matter the most?”. I suddenly realized that the photographer inside me was overpowering the food blogger inside of me. So on Monday, after going back home, I decided to shoot it.
Again, it thought it might not be photogenic, but at least they would taste like the sweets back in Kolkata.
Now Chocolate ‘Sondesh’ is not very common back in India. The first time I had it was during “Bhai Dhoj”(Indian Brother’s day) when my uncle bought it for us. I was only five years old, and I fell in love with it immediately. Now, which kids do not love chocolate at that age? Those “sondesh” were made with soft cottage cheese or what we call in Bengal as “Norom Paker Sondesh”. The cheese was not prepared with heat. I used to bother dad to go there and get me some more of those. However, it wasn’t close to our home.
Now, there was another sondesh that my dad often bought for us -“Chanchir Sondesh”, which is a sweet made of fried cottage cheese. It used to be moderately sweet and crumbly. To satisfy my craving for chocolate sondesh and to save dad from a long commute, Ma decided to make a chocolate sondesh for me. So she combined those two recipes and came up with her own unique -“Chocolate Sondesh”.
No, you can not find in a store, so do not compare my version (or speak behind my back) with a store bought chocolate sondesh. It won’t match. This is entirely my ma’s creation that she did to satisfy her nagging child.
I have not showed “chena” or paneer preparation here. But you can find them in details here:
and Sondesh
Recipe for Chocolate Sondesh
Ingredients
Instructions
1. In a non-stick saucepan, over medium-high heat, heat milk (do not use a substitute for full-fat).
Keep stirring otherwise the milk will stick to the bottom. When it starts to boil (make sure it is a rolling boil) set it aside.
2. Cut lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Add one tablespoon of water and vinegar.
3. Add lemon-vinegar solution to the milk. It will start coagulating within 3 to 4 seconds.
4. Set a strainer over a mixing bowl and line it with a cheese cloth. Carefully pour the milk curds into the strainer, letting the whey collect in the bowl. Set the whey aside. (You can save the milk whey for making paneer in the future)
5. Add 2 cups (or more) of water to the paneer and wash it well. (Washing it not only helps get rid of the acidity but also helps cool it down)
Gather the four corners of the cheesecloth in your hand and gently squeeze to remove the excess whey.(You do not need to hang the paneer to it cool down as long as you squeeze it well)
6. Set it aside in a big mixing bowl. With the palm of your hands, knead the paneer for 4 to 5 minutes. It should have a fine consistency. Add sugar and knead for an another 4 to 5 minutes to form a dough.
7. In a non-stick pan, over medium-low heat, heat the paneer dough. With a spatula, stir it for 4 to 5 minutes. (You should squeeze paneer very well in step 5, so well that it should not have any water. If you see that there are some water in paneer, there is no reason to panic. Just stir it for 2 to 3 minutes more).
8. Add cocoa powder and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Take it off the heat.
From here you can do two things.
1. When it’s cool enough to handle, in a pyrex or any deep rectangular dish, add clarified butter. Brush it to coat it well. Add the paneer dough and press it with your fingers to spread even. Close the container and chill it for 3 hours. With a sharp knife, cut them into 1-inch square pieces. Serve chilled. (** Texture of sondesh will be crumbly**) – Check the photos up!
2. Or when it’s cool enough to handle shape them like a ball and enjoy. Don’t forget to grease your hands with ghee.
Dilemma of a food blogger and brown food not being photogenic hmm I can relate to that 🙂 Some days are just a pass … so much milk usage in one day I bet ur mom wanted to simply come out of the screen and help u out. 🙂
The sondesh has come out so well esp in the overhead view pic.
Thank you so much dear! You do hear me what I am saying right?
I can totally hear what you are saying. And yes like Meena said, brown food are most difficult to style and shoot and I must say you have done a good job.
I am glad I was able to do a good job! The food is yum, and there is no doubt in it 🙂
You just echoed my thoughts dol.. I feel the same and the poor hubby tries to convince me that your blog is more about food than photography. I still have so many recipes drafted, just because pics are not Good.
Who said this Sandesh is not pretty? It is gorgeous.
For food bloggers, the posts/pics are like babies to mothers. There is so much of emotional attachment.
Sometimes We should just kill the food photographer self and listen to the food blogger one?
I hear ya, my dear! But for me food photography is like my baby, as you said. I am happy that I got over it and shot these 🙂
I do have the same! I generally re-do it again and again until I got it perfect! But this was born and meant to be crumbly, so I had no other choice than shooting them that way! 🙂 Much thanks and love for your support!
You speak from your heart and it relates to soooo many of us. Sometimes it just so hard to shoot food. It’s like a temperamental super model. I have had sooo many days like these and it’s hard to explain the frustration to family, they just don’t get it. Frankly I loved the pictures and my first reaction was ‘I want to taste this’ and it was followed by eating a sweet that I got from India. I think that was the purpose . 🙂 If u were close by, I would have run to your place to taste this 🙂
I was thinking the same, I wish I could share with you! 🙂 Thank you dear, who can understand more than you. Love!!
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