Sandesh | Indian Sweets
Sandesh (pronounced shondesh) is a category of Indian sweets made usually with milk and milk products, sweet cheese, sugar, and date jaggery. They can be soft or hard. The ones above are the hard kind which are set in beautiful moulds to get pretty designs. Milk is simmered with sugar and spices like cardamom and bay leaves on low heat and stirred often till it reduces to a thick consistency, thicker than condensed milk. Cooking the milk like this also gives it a nutty, caramel taste. Stone moulds are greased with ghee and the thickened milk is shaped into the moulds while it's still hot. After setting for a few hours, the sandesh are removed. They can be stored for a few weeks. They are hard and creamy and delicious! My mom's friend made these and gave me dozens of sweets. Sadly I have only 2 pieces left.
