Strawberry Sondesh (Indian Sweets)

We got three news to share!

After searching for a month and half, we finally got a renter for the new place. Most of you must be thinking, what’s the big deal in that? It is, at least for us. This is our investment property so finding a renter was very crucial for us. We were so much stressed we barely slept at night. We gained a ton of weight, few wrinkles and a few white hairs. Every single moment we thought – did we make the right decision purchasing the place? This stress took me down into a hole of depression.

But like my mother says, Goddess Durga cures all troubles and pains. On the morning of Mahalaya, we got our renters to sign the lease. It was a moment of relief.

This year since May, I got into Harvard, we bought a condo but we did not celebrate. We did not go to any restaurant or bought a bottle of wine. This weekend, I gifted Matthew a nice bottle of wine and went to a local restaurant (Waypoint). We did not do anything during the weekend except resting, watching TV and ordering take outs.

I shopped for about 6 hours on Monday. We also booked a trip to Berkshires in 2 weeks. Like I mentioned, we felt like a heavy stone just got removed from our chest.

I am starting a new position as Web and Print Designer (Research Assistant) in Harvard Kennedy School.

On the eve of these good news, I would like to share an announcement about the blog.

Beginning this year, I started contributing to stock agencies.

Last Friday I got an email from my stock agent, they want more photos. I sent about 80 photos during the weekend and I am going to send a few more to them soon. I was so busy for past few months, I could not contribute anything. As I am going to be be more active on that front, so you will see a lot of food photographs from me. It also means I will blog less frequently than I used to but I will continuously do the photography. You can follow my photography on Insta or Facebook.

In Kolkata, my family, school and college friends are celebrating Durga Puja this week. Here, we have no such luxury but there is a Durga and Kali temple in Burlington which we are thinking of visiting for Asthami’s anjali. If you’re in Boston, I would love to meet you there!

Durga puja means festivity and food. At my parents’ home, we always celebrated with a variety of food. On Mahalaya I made these Indian sweets for my darling husband.

These sweets are super soft, melts in mouth as soon as you put in. It has a slight hint of strawberry and a perfect amount of sweetness. It’s not too less and not too much. It takes a while to make the shapes but you can totally ignore that.

Making cottage cheese from scratch, preparing the strawberry jelly, cooking the cheese and shaping the Sondesh (Indian Sweets) are so therapeutic it took all my pains and stress away. It requires a bit time to prepare but the divine taste of these Sondesh (Indian Sweets) totally worth it.

Still why should you make Indian sweets at home?

4 Indian sweets at my local store costs me about $6. They are 2-3 weeks old and heavily sweetened. It took me about an hour and half to make. I made 24 Indian sweets so if I bought that from the store, it would cost me around 40 bucks! Milk, Strawberry and Sugar was less than $10. Let not even start talking about organic, fresh and ethereal taste.

Do you still want to go to your local Indian store and buy these?

Recipe for Strawberry Sondesh (Indian Sweets)

Makes 24

1 gallon (4 liter) milk
Juice of 3 lemons, divided
2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoon and more water
1 pound fresh organic strawberries
500 grams sugar

1. In a non-stick soup pot, over a medium-high heat, heat milk. Keep stirring, otherwise the milk will stick to the bottom. When it starts to boil (make sure it is a rolling boil), set it aside. Cut 2 lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Add one tablespoon of water and vinegar.

2. Add lemon-vinegar-water solution to the milk. It will start coagulating within 3 to 4 seconds. Hold a strainer over a mixing bowl and line it with a cheesecloth. Carefully pour the milk curds into the strainer, letting the whey collect in the bowl. Set the whey aside. (You can save the milk whey for making paneer in the future).

3. Run cold water over the paneer (inside the cheesecloth) and wash it well (washing it not only helps to get rid of the acidity, but also helps cool it down). Gather the four corners of the cheesecloth in your hand and gently squeeze to remove the excess whey (you do not need to hang the paneer to it cool down as long as you squeeze it well enough).

4. Set it aside in a bowl.

5. In a non-stick sauce pan, add 1 pound strawberries and 300 grams sugar. Over medium-low heat, cook the strawberry pulp for 50 – 55 minutes or until strawberry pulp thickens. Add juice of 1 lemon and take it aside. Let it cool completely before adding to the paneer. (You can use store-bought organic strawberry jelly instead)

6. In a food processor, add half of the paneer and 200 grams sugar. Work it until smooth and take it aside. In the same food processor, add rest half of the paneer and strawberry jelly. Work it until smooth and take it aside in another bowl.

7. In two non-stick sauce-pans over medium-low heat, heat two paneer mixtures separately. Cook it for 10 to 12 minutes or until paneer dough do not stick to the non-stick pan very much. Take it aside.

8. Grease your hands with ghee; then, when they are cool enough to handle, shape them like balls with palm of your hand.

If you have molds, you can also shape them in molds. Take a piece of the mold, grease it well with ghee. Create several of them like a ball working in between your palms. Press the balls into the mold. Gently push the edge with your fingertips and carefully take it aside on a plate. You can serve it immediately or chilled.

You can save them in a pyrex container inside of a refrigerator for up to 1 week.