BHAPA SANDESH / STEAMED SANDESH

'ORE GRIHABASHI,KHOL, DWAR KHOL,LAGLO JE DOL,

STHALE JALE BONOTALE LAGLO JE DOL,
DWAR KHOL, DWAR KHOL.'

Above are the lines from Tagore's one of the famous songs about Holi....For Bengalis, today is Holi...we call Dol Purnima....for the rest of India...its tomorrow. The above lines call for all to open their doors and play with colours...for everywhere on this earth, the carnival of colours have started. Hope many of you know how merrily and colourfully it is played at SHANTINIKETAN....Tagore's abode of peace and harmony. A century back, he conceived of a different theory of education...where it would not be confined to the four walls of a classroom...but to be perceived in the nature's lap, bringing forth the hidden qualities of the students....they will learn what they wish to....hence his dream university came up....Shantiniketan with financial assistance coming from every corner of the world. Needless to say, many talents were it's alumni....from world famous sculptors to politicians to economists to scientists....singers, dancers. It is situated in the small township of Bolpur, West Bengal. There people flock in numbers to be a part of the Holi celebration through dance, drama, songs and gulal.....

You know about the magic of colours?...It paints you with happiness, merrymaking, erasing all of the pain if you have any. I had been to Shantiniketan, but not during the Holi Celebrations. I wish to be there once on this occasion, be a part of the merrymaking, I will when the last strand of my hair turns grey.

My childhood memories of Holi is not good. Our neighbourhood was not that congenial for a girl to play Holi. Yes, I mean it. I was brought up in a well guarded manner by our mother who never allowed me to play Holi outside, she was right doing that. 

After marriage, in my Kolkata neighbourhood, I really did enjoy Holi with lovely friends, neighbours, jalebi, "kachori-dum aloo" and yes bhang....tastes amazing. No, I would not put up the recipe of bhang today, nor of jalebi which I find difficult. 

I have gotten you an easy sweet recipe, BHAPA SANDESH. The introduction was getting lengthier, hence, did not put up the legend that goes behind the celebration of Holi.....may be next year. As of now let me put up a sweet recipe for Holi and gear up for the grand Holi Celebration at work tomorrow with a grand lunch spread! I first tasted Diabetic friendly steamed sandesh at Bharat Sweets, DumDum located opposite of Satyanarayan Mishtanna Bhandar.

INGREDIENTS :

Milk : 2 litres
Lemon Juice : 1/4small cup
Ice Cubes : 4
Sugar : 1/2 cup[small]
Green Cardamom : 1tsp
Pistachio : 6-7 [chopped finely]
Oil : 2drops

METHOD :

Let us prepare the chena or the cottage cheese at first. Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and put on the gas stove.

Get the juice from the lemon. As the milk comes to boil, we will pour in the lemon juice added with a little of water.

The milk will curdle. Immediately we will add the ice cubes to prevent the cheese to harden further.

Once it cools, we will strain the cottage cheese through a clean white cloth. We will wash the chena / freshly made paneer to do away with the smell of lemon.

We will tie the cloth along with the chena and hang for at least 30-40 minutes, take down. This time I kept it in the strainer itself with a cover.

Thereafter, we are to  transfer the cheese into  a wide mouthed bowl or plate, add the sugar. Then, we would crush the cardamom seeds and add to the mixture.

We will start mashing, kneading with our palm until it smoothens and our palm gets oily. This will take about 8-10 minutes.

We will take a microwave proof container & grease with 2 drops of oil, add the cheese mix and spread evenly.

We will take another microwave proof container bigger in size and fill with water less than half of it, place the square container on it.

We will microwave at high for 10 minutes & rest for few minutes.

Once cool, we will turn it onto a plate. We will chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.