Durga Puja is a festival celebrated by Hindus in India. It is celebrated with reverence to the Hindu goddess Durga. Large pandals are erected at public places and idols of Goddess are placed and worshipped. Fares are also held in villages and cities near the pandals.
The occasion is marked by preparing sweets and other items. Sandesh is a Bengali sweet, popular all over India, and it is often made during Durga puja. Sandesh is made with only 2 basic ingredients such as sugar, paneer and cardamom powder. There are so many variations of making sandesh recipe, all are quite simple.
To make Sandesh, it is always good to use fresh chena or paneer, instead of sugar, even palm jaggery or mix of sugar and palm jaggery are used. Cook the chena-sugar mix on low heat and for not more than 4 to 5 minutes. Once you have mixed the chena with sugar, you need to cook it on stove top to get rid of that raw smell of chena. You have to knead for 4 to 5 minutes or until the chena becomes smooth and soft. Put a non stick pan on low heat and transfer the chena-sugar mixture the the pan. Cook for no more than 4 to 5 minutes. It will thicken up and leave the sides of the pan. If you cook for more than 5 minutes, the chena is going to crumble and turn grainy again, and cool it down for 15 minutes and add cardamom powder. Make small balls from the mixture and roll between your palm and make it round.