Mango Sandesh | Bengali Sweet Recipes | Indian Dessert With Mango

Indian sweet recipes play a vital role in Indian culture. For Indians, any festival or ceremony is incomplete without sweets. In fact, if someone is successful on something or has any good news then they celebrate their joy by sharing sweets with their close ones. When all these occasions are celebrated with homemade sweets, these occasions become more special and emotional.

Mango Sandesh is a tropical Bengali Sandesh recipe. It is very soft in texture and melts inside mouth. The amazing flavour of mango and the beautiful colour is the USP (Unique Selling Point) of the dessert.

Bengalis have a sweet tooth and they devour sweets crazily. Since my childhood, I have not spent a single day when sweets are not there in our refrigerator. When I was in India, I never got the chance to crave for sweets because they are so easily available.

But after coming to the UK, I started craving for Bengali sweet recipes. Then I have decided to prepare them at home. Before preparing, I never knew that Sandesh recipes are so easy to make. When I prepared the Mango Sandesh for the first time, everyone loved it. Now Mango Sandesh is in the hit list of my family.

Mango Sandesh is a complete life saviour for all the housewives who encourage home cooking. It is a simple and super easy recipe. The best part of the Mango dessert is that though it is an easy recipe but still it tastes extraordinary. It requires minimal ingredients to get prepared and gets prepared very quickly without investing much effort. Though it is readily available in market in India but homemade Mango Sandesh tastes more luscious and special.

Recipe for Sandesh

Recipe for Sandesh plays a vital role in Bengali culture. Sandesh is the most regularly offered sweet to God in the temples of Bengal which makes the Sandesh recipe Bengali more auspicious. Different ranges of Sandesh recipes are prepared in every sweet shops of Bengal and it is also one of the bestselling sweets in Bengal.

There are more than hundred varieties of Sandesh recipes that are prepared all over the country. Nolen Gurer Sandesh, Kesar Sandesh, Elaichi Sandesh, Chocolate Sandesh, Mango Sandesh are few popular varieties among them.

Indian mango dessert recipes are perfect dessert for any occasion. The unique flavour of the king of fruit ‘Mango’ makes the dessert authentic and more delectable. During summer, when Mangoes are easily available in market, many seasonal desserts and beverages are prepared in every house.

Mango Sandesh recipe with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instructions’ section of the recipe. But before directly jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting facts about the Indian dessert with mango. If you follow the recipe step by step, then you will definitely get the perfect Mango Sandesh which is better than the ones available in the market.

What type of Mango to be used for Mango Sandesh?

There are many different varieties of Mangoes available in market during proper season. It is quite tough to choose any specific variety to prepare the Indian Mango dessert recipes. Some of the famous varieties include Alphonso, Kesari, Langra, Himsagar, Amrapali, Badami and many more.

To prepare perfect Mango Sandesh, it is important to use the Mangoes that have less fibre. I have used Alphonso and it works great for the recipe.

How to make Mango Sandesh?

For Mango Sandesh recipe, first I have curdled the milk to prepare Chenna. I have used lemon juice to curdle the milk. You can also use yogurt or vinegar for the same. After preparing Chenna, I have hung it for half an hour to filter out the excess water. Then, I have kneaded the Chenna nicely till smooth before cooking. This is the most important part of preparing any Sandesh recipe. If the Chenna remains grainy then it is impossible to get the proper texture of Sandesh.

On the other hand, I have powdered the sugar in grinder before adding it to the Chenna or Indian Cottage Cheese.

I have used readymade Alphonso mango pulp for the recipe. But you can use fresh mangoes too. For making Mango pulp, just peel the mangoes and cut them into small chunks. Then run it in the blender for a minute and the smooth and silky puree will be ready.

Other than these, I have used little bit of powder milk, which is optional. You can skip it too. According to me, it gives richness and enhances the taste of the recipe for sandesh.

First, I have combined the powdered sugar with the kneaded Chenna. I have transferred the content into a non-stick pan and cooked it in low flame. I always prefer to use non-stick pan for preparing sandesh recipes. It reduces the risk of sticking the mixture to the bottom of the pan.

Then for preparing the Mango Sandesh, I have added the Mango pulp into the mixture and cooked it in medium low flame for 15-20 minutes. I have stirred the mixture frequently with the help of a spatula. It is very important to cook it in medium low flame. There is no shortcut to prepare an authentic sandesh recipe. We must be patient especially at final stage of preparing the Sandesh mixture.

After preparing the Sandesh mixture, allow it to be at room temperature and make Sandesh according to your preferred shape and size. I have used raisins to garnish the Sandesh balls. You can use any dry fruits of your choice like Pistachio, Cashew, Walnut etc.

I have not used any external essence to prepare the Mango Sandesh recipe. According to me, the natural flavour of Mango works best for this authentic Bengali sweet.

Ingredients:

• Full cream Milk, 1 Litre
• 1 Lemon to curdle the Milk
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Mango pulp or Mango chunks or 2 ripe Mangoes
• 1 tablespoon Milk powder (Optional)
• 20 Raisins (Optional, for garnishing), any dry fruits of your choice can be used

1. Take the 1 litre milk in a heavy bottom pan.
   

2. Put the flame in medium high and let the milk boil.
   Tip: While boiling the milk, put the flame in medium and stir occasionally. Otherwise, the milk will stick to the bottom of the pan and a burning smell may get induced into the milk.
   
3. Put the flame in lowest.
4. On the other side, cut the Lemon into two pieces.
5. Squeeze out the Lemon juice in a bowl.
6. Make sure no pulps and seeds are there in the juice.
7. Add the Lemon juice slowly into the milk (Step 3).
8. Stir it slowly and let the milk curdle.
9. Stir for 1-2 minutes in lowest flame.
10. On the other hand, place a colander in the sink of kitchen and put a Muslin cloth on the colander.
    
    

11. While the water gets separated from the curdled milk, switch off the flame.
    

12. Pour the curdled milk immediately to the Muslin cloth. With the help of a spatula, stir the Chenna gently for a minute to cool it off.
    
    

13. Gather the corners of the cloth.
14. Put the Chenna into the running water. Wash the Chenna carefully. This helps to remove the flavour of Lemon off the Chenna and allows the Chenna to cool down.
    

15. Squeeze the excess water and then tie a tight knot of the cloth.

16. Hang the Chenna for 30 minutes.
    

17. Crumble the Chenna nicely and knead it for 5-6 minutes until all the grains disappear. Make a soft and smooth dough with it.
    
    

    Note: It is very important to knead the Chenna till smooth without any grain to prepare a perfect Sandesh.
    

18. On the other hand, measure ½ cup of Sugar and transfer it to the jar of a grinder. Grind it till dust.
    
    

    Note: First measure the sugar and then grind it. The quantity of ½ cup of normal sugar and ½ cup of powdered sugar is different.
    

19. Pour the powdered sugar into the kneaded Chenna and mix it.
    

20. Transfer the mixture into a non-stick pan and cook it in medium low flame.
    

21. Add Milk powder into the mixture and mix it evenly.
    
    

22. Pour the Mango pulp into the mixture and stir it properly.
    

23. Put the flame in medium and cook it for 10 minutes. Stir continuously or else it will stick to the bottom. After 10 minutes the content will start becoming thicker.
24. At this stage lowest the flame and cook it for another 5-10 minutes. Stir continuously. Cook it in lowest flame until the mixture converts into a thick mass.
    

    Note: This is the crucial part of preparing Sandesh. We need to stir it continuously or else it will stick to the bottom and Sandesh and will smell Smokey. We need to be patient at this stage.
    

25. Switch off the flame and put the pan down.
26. Pour the mixture a plate and allow it to be at room temperature.
    

27. Take small portions of the Sandesh mixture and make small balls with your hands. Flatten the ball slightly with our palm. Place a raisin on the centre of the top or else you can use any other dry fruit like Cashew, Pistachio or Walnut.