Narkel Sandesh Recipe – Chandrapuli (Coconut Sandesh)

Today is Mahalaya. It marks the beginning of Debi Paksha when the Goddess Durga gets ready for her annual visit to planet earth from her heavenly abode or so is believed. This also marks a period of elaborate celebration and jubilation for most Hindus and especially Bengalis, Assamese and Oriyas, the inhabitants of the three easternmost states of India. It is Christmas time for us.

It’s a 10 day period of dedicated religious ceremonies and rituals. And the last 4 days of this 10 day period is when everything literally shuts down for the celebrations. The festive fervor takes over the city and the hearts of its residents. Blocks are closed down and cordoned off to make space for temporary structures, which can house the deity for these 4 days. The city is decorated with lights everywhere and restaurants would work round the clock to feed people. It is a time of happy hastiness all over.

Narkel Sandesh Recipe – Coconut Sandesh

I have been away from home for the last 12 years. I think for 3 years I could make a trip to my hometown this time of the year. But with Gungun’s school and activities, it is not possible anymore to go home during this time of the year. There is a sadness within which words cannot express. And it’s not just me every soul raised on the soil of Bengal pines for those familiar sights and sounds that are so signatory of our being and culture.

It is a dream now to be home this time of the year and spend this special time with family. It’s amazing that growing up the things we took so for granted are the ones that are hard to observe and achieve now. Never the less, just to keep up with all the festivities that we are witnessing on social media and also to hand down the spirit of celebration to the next gen, I resort to my kitchen. I know you kind of knew where all this was leading to.

We Bengalis have some typical foods that we offer to the deity during this festival. And being located along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, our state has a plentiful supply of coconuts. So coconut is a quintessential ingredient of the traditional menu made for the Goddess. Coconut Laddus or Narkel Narus (which my American colleague tasted and said – “oh these are like truffles”) or Coconut Sandesh or Narkel Sandesh (Now this time he said, these are like coconut cookies) has a special significance. The coconut is grated and cooked with sugar or jaggery and then shaped using stone or wooden molds.

These do involve some level of attentive cooking time and this time with my mom being around, we tried our hand at Coconut Sandesh or as we call it, Chandrapuli. These were best made by my paternal grandma, my dida (Yes, I called her that). Her’s were perfect and the very best. The coconuts she used were locally grown and had the right amount of fat in them to make moist and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth sandesh. I am so reminded of the boxes she would neatly arrange these with and send them over sometimes to my dad’s workplace. So many memories are crowding my mind now. Neither my dida nor my dad is around today anymore. Yet feels like this was just yesterday. Memories, I tell you!

All said, I would like to wish all my readers a very Happy Durga Puja and Navratri. May the Goddess bless you with her choicest blessings and let there be light in your lives forever.

Some other festival sweets made by me earlier would be this Channar Malpoa ^[2] or Chhanar Puli ^[3].

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