When we, Bengali, talk about home made desserts, Shondesh comes to our minds among other sweet items like Rosogolla, Kalo Jam, Dorbesh and few others. It sounds more lip-smacking when a fusion desert is made. And when Chocolate is one element of the fusion dessert then that becomes mouth watering, indeed. Yes. We are talking about none other than Chocolate Shondesh which is hand made & home made. This dessert is very easy to make at home and step by step recipe is given below-
INGREDIENTS
To make Chenna or Paneer yields 1 ¼ cup
1 liter whole milk
1½ tbsp lemon juice or vinegar or ¼ cup of yogurt (add more if needed)
1 cup ice cubes
How to make chocolate Shondesh
1 ¼ cup PANEER (little more or less will do)
5 to 6 tbsp sugar Cane sugar or (powder the sugar)
2 to 2 ½ tsp cocoa powder
1 pinch cinnamon powder or few drops of vanilla extract (optional)
HOW TO MAKE THE RECIPE
Preparation for chocolate Shondesh
Heat up milk on a medium flame and bring it to a boil. Dilute vinegar or lemon juice with the same amount of water and set aside.
When the milk comes to a boil, pour the lemon juice and stir well for the milk to curdle.
Add ice cubes to the curdled milk to prevent further cooking, else chenna turns to a grainy texture
Let it rest for a minute.
Drain it off to a cheese cloth with a colander under it.
Squeeze off excess whey and knot it. hang it for about 45 minutes depending on the moisture in the chenna.
The chenna should not have any moisture in it and should turn dry.
How to make chocolate Shondesh
Crumble the paneer and knead it well until smooth for about 2 to 3 mins. This step helps to prevent the chocolate Shondesh from turning grainy.
Ensure the paneer is smooth and not grainy.
Add it to a pan along with cane sugar or powdered refined sugar, vanilla. if using cinnamon you can add it with cocoa.
Cook the mixture, the sugar melts and becomes gooey. Cook until the mixture thickens but is still moist.
Turn Off the stove and add cocoa and cinnamon. cool it.
Knead well for about 3 to 5 minutes. Take small portions and make balls and flatten them slightly.
Tuck your favorite toppings like choco chips or sprinkles.
Refrigerate chocolate Shondesh for about one hour and serve.
Please like this recipe then please do share with your friends and give me your valuable comments to make my future recipes better.
