KHEER KOMOLA SANDESH

It indeed was a hectic week... I really did not have anytime to say "Hello" to my readers. I hope you love me enough not to have left me by now? It is a sunny Sunday morning and there is the most unexpected but wonderful offer from the man of the house.... lets go for a beach ride wifey.... the wifey is on cloud nine but she prefers to sit and share this recipe of sweet done with fresh orange juice, paneer / chena, sugar and some instant khoya... that I prepare at home. I found it to be the best way to say "Subha Bijoya".... "Happy Dussehra" to my readers!.... The beach ride can happen next... I am unwilling to miss this "once in a blue moon offer" either.... The week was beautiful but tiring. I am not the kind of a person who likes to wear make up everyday and go out to socialise, neither my men are. There is nothing like sitting and relaxing in a quiet, serene environment for us ..... there has to have a gap of at least fifteen days to do some kind of socialisation .... but all three of us in the family love to break or refute this norm during the Durga Pooja.... our biggest festival. 

Some of my fellow bloggers have beautifully explained what Durga Pooja actually means ..... it is something beyond a community celebration or in particular a religious festival.... it is magnanimous in character or fervour.... whatever. I lack my friends' talent and will not go for any further details on mythology or history of it. I ate a lot, wore eight sarees from my not that exclusive collection, fought with my men on what to wear and what not to, pestered my lazy brother over phone to go out with his fun loving wife and send me some clicks and the last day of the festival arrived. On this day, the ladies wear red & white based saree and all the available jewelries in their locker, bid a good bye to the mother and her kids for a year offering her sweets, vermilion, flowers seeking her blessings for the dear ones. 

While Bengal and the Bengalis living elsewhere celebrated Bijaya Dashami yesterday, it was also Dussehra for the rest of India and for those living abroad too marking Lord Rama's victory over the demon Ravana. I am not that much fond of the lord because he failed to respect his own woman..... my tall, dark, thin framed man is better who believes in and promotes gender equality. Our problem is we worship the Lord who did not have a bit of gender equality sense in him and the next moment refute all societal norms to show how progressive we are. Women's Liberation is a noble concept and is the need of the hour, it is achievable when we both work together towards it.... and not in rebuking each other. I will stick to my belief always..... Now, if I am going to post a naru or sweet recipe, I will not at all think whether it is a man thing or a woman thing, everyone is capable of it if they have the passion for cooking. As for diligence, I lack it and I go by my heart and will continue doing so....

Oranges, Oranges, Oranges.... I remember it marked the onset of winter in our childhood and the siblings loved having them ... "pithey roddur mekhey barandai boshey".... in the month long winter vacation, both of us siblings loved to have oranges sitting in the balcony of our two roomed rented house. The skin was then made into a paste with milk to prepare a face musk..... that did not help much haha.... doing all these again is self derogatory.... come on we should not be like that self proclaimed progressive, Bengali woman writer who had four men in her life and whose writing seems to me as soft porn.... a Neena Gupta or a Susmita Sen appeals to me more who never did hide the men in their lives, earn their bread without the support of men and raising the daughters with pride.... 

Praising these strong ladies, I equally take pride in my son and man. How come a Bijoya Dashami post have all these stuff in it, well I use this space to speak my mind.... It is mine. Anyway, this island gives us juicy oranges throughout the year and they are considered auspicious among the natives here. We are always welcome to prepare any dish with it or enjoy eating it as a fruit. I particularly love it's citrusy flavour. I had this sandesh / sweet earlier but do not have any idea if it is still available in Kolkata or not. I have done it my way with few ingredients like fresh orange juice, paneer [Indian Cottage Cheese], instantly made khoya kheer at home, sugar. I am pretty sure you will love to do them together with me.

INGREDIENTS : [for the instant khoya kheer]

Milk : 1/2big medium cup
Milk Powder : 1medium cup
Ghee : 2-3tbsp

INGREDIENTS : [for the kheer komola sandesh]

The instant khoya kheer
Orange Juice : 1big cup [fresh]
Orange Pulp : 1/2 small cup [fresh]
Sugar : 1/2small cup
Green Cardamom Powder : 1/2tsp
Milk : 2lt. for the paneer
Ice cube : 1small cup
Yellow Food Colour : 2 pinch [optional]
Garnish as you wish..


METHOD :

Let us prepare the paneer first. We will take the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and put for boil.

We will let it come to boil.... stir at intervals.

We will get the orange juice ready in advance. 

Once the milk comes to boil, add the orange juice. As the milk curdles, switch off gas and add the ice cubes.

As the mixture cools down; strain it through a fine, clean, white cloth.

Tie the cloth on to the tap for about an hour.

For the instant khoya kheer, we will mix together the milk powder, milk and ghee in a cup or a bowl. Microwave it at high for 3 minutes, pausing every 1 minute and giving it a stir.

We will take down the cloth after an hour, and take the paneer in a plate. We will mash it for few minutes. Heat a wok atop the gas oven and add the paneer. 

We will stir it for some time and add the instant khoya kheer, sugar and cardamom powder.

We will add the fresh orange pulp and the yellow food colour now to the wok and fold in well.

We will stir gently for 2-3 minutes and transfer the sandesh sweet mixture to a plate.

We will transfer the entire mixture to a square shaped box once cool. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

After an hour or so, we will take out the box and transfer the mixture on to a plate.

We will use a knife to shape it as we desire.

We will garnish each sandesh with a choice of our dry fruit.