BAKED SANDESH

Yes, this is how a true heart Bengali expresses love for her roots sitting in another country. It is also true that I got this tart pan to try  tarts, an egg tart to start with. As usual, extremely scared to do what is not my forte, neither wanting to keep the tart pan as a showpiece, I thought let me inaugurate it with something easy and less time consuming. Why I am posting dessert one after another.... Oh! I am trying to remain calm and sweet keeping aside all of the tension. My help, now a family member Cristine is yet to come back from her vacation and I am literally going crazy. Moreover, with a son going for his boards in another fourteen months, my mind is literally in two pieces, should I take a long break or not? Going by the standards of a Bengali mother, I can see myself ranking almost in the last. 

Each time I come back from Kolkata I feel more of guilty watching my friends back home dedicating and sacrificing everything for the kids. Moreover with a senior like mine, I am going extremely crazy with his patent dialogue that he does not want his son to be in any rat race, he wants him to be happy. How much I disagree, he is firm on his belief that a child is only liable to fulfil his / her own dreams and not their parents'. Now the son, going by his extreme love for history says he wants to be the curator of a museum, while his average, typical Bengali mother wished to see him somewhere near and around the NASA. There is nothing wrong in the mother's wish as her son has the potential going by all his teachers' feedback, what he lacks is effort.

Taken into account all these factors, no wonder why the fat old lady is getting fatter and greying super fast. I am too used to Cristine's service .... dear, knead the dough little more, Cristine do the stuffing and I will roll them. Amidst all these mess, I much appreciate my fellow food bloggers doing a great job sharing many dishes every other day. Whether they are doing it with or without a help is not important , the effort and love for it is what I appreciate. This Baked Sandesh was done during the Diwali celebration, then for one reason or the other my wish to share it with the world got delayed. Today, I felt I should share this mess free way of making a Sandesh, a recent occurrence at West Bengal's urban sweet shops. Bengali sweets are famous worldwide. I have provided stepwise pictures for the entire process to prove my point that it does not require kneading or mashing . I even used store bought paneer for this sweet. Let us prepare this Baked Sandesh together. 

What I must admit is that I tried to do it without using condensed milk, hence I used corn flour, thats a slight compromise with the taste. I am more enjoying the crisp exterior. Usage of Condensed Milk may get you a tastier finish!

INGREDIENTS [for the instant khoya]

Milk Powder : 5-6 tbsp
Full Cream Milk : 1/2 small tea cup
Ghee : 1 tbsp

INGREDIENTS : [for the Baked Sandesh]

Paneer : 150 gm
Full Cream Milk : 3-4 tbsp [skip if using condensed milk]
Sugar : 1/2 small tea cup [lessen if using condensed milk]

Corn Flour : 2 tbsp [skip if using condensed milk]
Rose Water : 2 tsp [alternatively use Cardamom Powder : 1/4tsp]
Instant Khoya : As we get.

METHOD :

I preheated the oven to 160*C. 

Let us prepare the instant khoya / semi solidified milk at first. 

By now, my readers must have by hearted this khoya / semi solidified milk recipe that I have learnt from a you tube video. I just adjusted the amount of the ingredients as it suits my family. We will take all of the ingredients of instant khoya in a bowl and mix well.

We will microwave the mixture for 2-3 minutes pausing and stirring every 30 seconds. Our instant khoya is ready.

Now we will take the paneer in a blender. We will add the corn flour, instant khoya, crumbled paneer, milk, sugar, rose water to it. We will blend it to a paste for 1-2 minutes pausing in between.

I did pour the mixture into an aluminium foiled tin.

Thereafter, I baked it at 160*C for 50 minutes.  The temperature setting of your machine may be different. It is done when the top is brown and crisp. 

Bring it to the room temperature and chill in the refrigerator before serving and having it. Once in the refrigerator, the exterior may not remain crisp.

I suggest you do the mixing with a hand beater instead of doing the same in a blender.