Sandesh is the most popular chhana based sweet delicacy of the eastern parts of India, especially West Bengal where there is a traditional custom to send some “Sandesh” along with a good message to relatives and friends. Utilization of chhana for sandesh production is greater than for all other Bengali sweets, including rasogulla.It is reported that about 80 per cent of chhana produced in Kolkata is converted into sandesh.
Sandesh is known for its taste, palatability, and aroma and as a rich source of milk proteins, fat, sucrose, and fat-soluble vitamins. It has firm body and smooth texture.Several varieties of sandesh are sold in the market and each variety differs in appearance, flavour, body & texture, palatability and composition. Three distinct varieties of sandesh are popular: soft grade (naram-pak), hard grade (kara-pak)and raw grade (Kachagola). The most common variety is the soft grade sandesh,which has a soft body and smooth texture with fine grains. It contains a relatively smaller amount of sugar and has higher moisture content than the hard grade sandesh.Kara-pak has a firm body and dry appearance. Kachagola possesses raw-chhana like flavour, moist appearance, soft body and coarse, grainy texture. One more variety, known as Nolan gur sandesh is prepared from Khajur gur (date jaggery).It is considered a novel delicacy and fetches premium price.
i.Sandesh from cow milk
Cow milk is standardized to 4.0 per cent fat and thereafter chhana is prepared by coagulation at 80oC using 2.0 per cent citric acid solution or pasteurized sour whey.Chhana is kneaded or ground into smooth paste and divided into two equal lots.Ground sugar, at the rate of 30 per cent of total weight of chhana is mixed with one lot of chhana. The mixture is then slowly cooked with continuous stirring and scrapping in a shallow vessel and the temperature is raised upto 75oC.When patting stage has reached the second lot of chhana is also mixed to it. Heating and scrapping of this mixture is continued till a final temperature of 60oC is attained. Thereafter, the mix is cooled to room temperature and moulded in desired shape and size. The production process of soft grade sandesh is presented in Fig .
ii.Chhana Based Sweets
Sandesh from buffalo milk For making good quality sandesh from buffalo milk, the process for making chhana is slightly modified. The buffalo milk is standardized to 4.0 per cent fat and heated to boil. When boiling has attained, heating is discontinued and milk is diluted with water(30 per cent the volume of milk). The diluted milk is then coagulated at 70oC using 0.5 per cent citric acid solution or with sour whey. Whey is drained completely and chhana thus obtained is kneaded to smooth paste. The remaining steps are same as to that of cow milk sandesh production.
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| Flow chart for manufacture of sandesh |
iii. Yield
The average yield of sandesh from cow and buffalo milk is about 16.50 and 20.50 per cent, respectively.
iv. Composition
The chemical composition of sandesh from cow and buffalo milk is given in table
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| Chemical composition of sandesh from cow and buffalo milk |
The chemical profile of market samples of three types of sandesh is presented in
table
table
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| Chemical profile of market sample of sandesh |
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