“A Rose speaks of love silently in a Language known only to the Heart!!”
Is it? May be! But one thing I know for sure that food speaks of love loudly in the language known to the soul only! Don’t you agree to this? And when you mix these extremely beautiful things together you are strictly not allowed to fail an exotic dessert? I prepared this Rose Fudge or Rose Sandesh few weeks back just before Poush/Makar Sankranti with many other goodies but due to lack of time I couldn’t publish it on time. Later when I noticed that Rose Day is on 7th February I saved this secretly for today. As we are talking about love and affection why don’t you make it on upcoming Valentine’s Day to impress your loved ones. wink!
When talking about soul food, I can’t do anything but miss many of them now. Sigh! Let me ask you one thing to those who are living in your hometown only. Do you know how much blessed you guys are? You can’t even imagine how it feels to stay away from your home and city when you don’t get your kind of food around. I’m not complaining about my new place but I’m definitely missing the food of my city more than anything now; especially street food and dessert.
When I started my blog I had shared many of my beloved desserts from my hometown. But true Indian desserts are one of the toughest things to make at home on regular basis. If you get teeny weeny things wrong you end up in a whole mess. So I had to draw the line for myself to avoid extra stress in my life. But recently when my father surprised me with a large gift box including five different dices to make sandesh/fudge or cookie I can’t resist myself to make some fresh sandesh/fudge immediately.
There is a dessert called ‘Rose Sandesh’ available in few selected sweet shops in Kolkata which I had tasted long back (when I was there). Can’t remember the actual taste but all I have is the memory of a strong rose fragrant and few dark pink strains in the pale in pink sandesh. So I just made my own version to make a memento of my newly received wooden molds. I used my Homemade Cottage Cheese & little bit of Homemade Khoya/Mawa and a rose syrup, called Rooh Afza which I bought from the local super market.
Here is my version of Rose Fudge or Rose Sandesh recipe for you all.
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Resting time: 00 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Yield: 10-12 medium sized fudge
Ingredients:
Fresh Cottage cheese: 200g (homemadeor store bought)
Finely grated khoya/mawa: ¼ cup (homemadeor store bought)
Condensed milk: 2 tbsp (or approx. equal amount sugar) (See Tips)
Rose syrup: 3 tbsp (I used Rooh Afza) (adjust the amount according to your taste)
Rose essence: 2 drops
For Garnishing:
Pistachio slivers
Preparation:
You can use either homemadeor store bought cottage cheese for this recipe but remember the cottage cheese/chenna needs to be fresh and moist but definitely not watery or dry. Same goes for the khoya/mawa.
Mix the cottage cheese & mawa/khoya in a heavy bottomed non-stick pan. Switch on the flame and keep it on simmer. Place the pan on flame. Keep stirring continuously. Don’t stop stirring in between otherwise mixture will stick at the bottom and it will give the smoky flavor to the dish which is strictly ‘no no’ for any dessert. Pour the condensed milk/sugar/sweetener and the rose syrup into the mixture and mix as much as possible with a ladle. Quickly it will start becoming like liquid milk. Don’t panic. Keep stirring on slow flame. (See Tips)
After 3-4 mins it will start to thicken. This is the crucial moment. Don’t stop stirring now. Within a few more minutes you will notice mixture is not sticking to the pan and it is forming a smooth lump. This is time to switch off the flame and keep the mixture in the pan itself to cool down completely. (See Tips)
Once the mixture is cool knead well to make smooth dough. If you feel your dough is two dry add 1-2 tsp of warm milk. If you find the dough is not tight enough, apply 1 drop of ghee on your palms and continue kneading. Grease your palms with clarified butter or ghee and take 2 tbsp of the mixture in your palm. Roll it between your palms and give it a shape of ball.
(See Tips)
Grease the mold with few drops of clarified butter/ghee and press the dough ball on it. Don’t press it too hard otherwise fudge will break apart. While working with one ball, keep the rest of the dough covered. (See Tips)
Now gently turn the dough filled mold upside down and unmold the fudge with your fingers. Avoid pressing with pressure; fudge is still very soft and fragile by now. Follow the same with the rest of the dough. Use different molds to create new surprises. (See Tips)
Sprinkle the pistachio clivers on top and press very gently to set it properly without destroying the shape. Rose Fudge or Rose Sandesh is all set to serve fresh. It tastes best when served at room temperature. Arrange the excess (if you could save any; I had failed to do so 🙁 ) Rose Fudge or Rose Sandesh in airtight container and refrigerate. They will be fresh up to 6-7 days. But always bring them to room temperature before serving.
Tips:
1. If you are not a sweet lover, skip sweetener. The rose syrup (Rooh Afza) is already sweet and it will give you very mild sweet taste.
2. The rose syrup already gave me a bright and nice pink color which I was looking for. If you want more reddish hue, add more syrup instead of sweetener. Or you can add few drops of food color too which I strictly avoided.
3. The entire process of cooking of khoya will take 6-10 mins maximum for the specified amount.
4. While kneading the khoya you may feel grains in between your fingers and palm. Don’t be afraid. It can happen due to over cooking of the khoya. Just keep kneading the khoya with little pressure and keep mixing 1-2 tsp of warm milk. After a while you will feel smooth grains free dough.
5. If you leave the dough open in air while you are working with small balls, it will lose its moisture and will become too dry to handle.
6. You can also use any molds of your choice. Or you can also use cookie cutter to create exciting shapes.
Happy Rose Day!
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Wow such an delicious looking peda with rose flavoured peda 🙂 looks very tempting !!
looks yummy! so perfect for the occasion ..