Dark Chocolate Sandesh (Shondesh) Dipped In Chocolate Recipe

Step 1: To begin making the Dark Chocolate Sandesh (Shondesh) Dipped In Chocolate Recipe, first prepare the chenna or fresh cottage cheese, which is the base for many Bengali sweets

Step 2: To do this, place the full fat milk in a saucepan or heavy bottomed pan and bring it to a boil

Step 3: Once the milk is bubbling away, add the lemon juice and turn off the heat

Step 4: The milk will curdle and coagulate within seconds

Step 5: Once the entire milk has coagulated and you see the cheese floating on top and a clear whey separated from it

Step 6: Prepare the chenna and rinse it under running water thoroughly

Step 7: Tie it in a cheese cloth and hang it to drain out the excess water

Step 8: This process takes at least for a couple of hours

Step 9: In the meantime, chop the dark chocolate into small chunks to make it easier to melt

Step 10: Place a sauce pan with water over a medium heat

Step 11: In a heatproof bowl which is slightly larger than the saucepan, add the chopped chocolate and place this bowl over the saucepan, ensuring that the boiling water doesn’t touch the surface of the heatproof bowl

Step 12: The heat generated by the boiling water will melt the chocolate gently

Step 13: Lower the heat and begin to melt the chocolate with a spatula, till it is smooth and glossy

Step 14: Add the cocoa powder and vanilla essence to the melted chocolate and keep it aside

Step 15: Time to check on the chenna once again

Step 16: Once most of the water is drained out, tip the cheese on a flat surface and begin kneading it, pressing it down and forward with the heel of your palm

Step 17: Working it on the surface like you would dough for chapatis or puris

Step 18: The kneading is most important as it makes the chenna smooth, and almost like a fine paste by the end of the process

Step 19: Note: If kneading the sondesh takes too much time and effort, you could also use a food processor

Step 20: However the result will be a finer paste-like sondesh, while this recipe tastes good when the chenna mix is well-kneaded, but slightly grainy

Step 21: Reserving about 3 tablespoons of the melted chocolate in a smaller bowl, add the rest of the melted chocolate to the kneaded chenna

Step 22: Add the condensed milk and once again mix until it is well combined

Step 23: Heat a heavy bottomed pan and tip the chenna mixture into it

Step 24: Cook on medium heat until the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan and come together as a ball

Step 25: Remove the mixture from the heat, add the raisins and mix well

Step 26: Once it is cool enough to work with, divide the chenna into 12 equal parts

Step 27: Shape them into round balls and lightly flatten each by patting them softly with your fingers

Step 28: Dip half the balls in melted chocolate reserved separately earlier and top it off with roasted slivered almonds

Step 29: Place the balls chocolate side up, to set a little

Step 30: Serve the Dark Chocolate Sandesh on Angoori Rasmalai