“Shondesh” is what it is called in West Bengal, “Sandesh” it is elsewhere, & Cheese Fudge is the closest translation I can come up with. “It’s dry yet moist in sweetness. It won’t exactly melt in your mouth but its sweet aftertaste lures your taste buds to bite into more such soft wonders. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the mysterious charm of Sandesh — a term meaning news — a bearer of good tidings for those away from home.” (The Times of India)
This dessert is an adaptation of some pretty well known names.. Mousse, Panna Cotta & the Shrikhand. It is light like a mousse, creamy like a panna cotta & flavored like a shrikhand with the ingredient here being the yogurt. I love mousse & panna cottas but if I really think about making those my everyday desserts, I have to think twice. All the eggs & cream that goes in there do not suit my kind of life style… & my sense of reason & guilt overpowers the desire to enjoy.
This is one special recipe I learnt to make this from a very dear friend of mine. Once during a friends meet my dear friend F walked in with a big bowl of something so aromatic that I immediately uncovered to see that it this beautiful orangish yellow cream speckled with green & white nuts was. She smiled & said “It’s Firni, & the color is the color of Saffron“! I wanted to skip food & dive in to this right away…. But we waited & waited till dinner was over…finally when we did get to have this I was totally floored, needless to say Firni was the star of the evening… it tasted divine. Thank you so much dear one for introducing this to me, for this is one of our top favorites now.
Firni is a kind of Rice Pudding, made with Powdered Rice. It is similar to what we call “kheer” or “payasam” in India, but unlike Kheer/Payasam, it does not use whole rice grains. Firni is flavored with lots of Saffron & Cardamom & adorned with a lot of Nuts & sometimes Dry fruits too.
What a strange sounding Translation! Anyway…
India has a large repertoire of sweets. Some sweets are consumed all over the country whereas some are only typical to a region. Traditionally, a lot of Indian sweets are prepared with milk, sugar & flour. In India sweets play a very important role in the culture. Every happy occasion, every ceremony, & festival is marked by distribution of sweets. Just like a box of chocolate, or a bottle of wine is brought in as a gift, a regular form of gift in India is a box of sweets.
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