Chocolate Fudge Bites

My mom made these simple chocolate fudge balls for my husband's birthday. It's wondrous how just a few ingredients can come together to create a simple treat that puts a genuine smile of happiness and appreciation on someone's face.

This is a soft, chewy dessert that melts in your mouth. This is a variation of a popular Indian dessert called Sandesh. Instead of using paneer/cottage cheese or milk khova, my mom uses condensed milk and milk powder. And of course, cocoa powder. 

Ingredients (makes about 20 fudge balls; sorry I forgot to count and they are all gone now!):

1. 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
2. 1/2 cup milk powder
3. 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4. 5 teaspoons ghee / clarified butter
5. 1/4 cup of shelled pistachios
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preparation:

1. Grease a tray or plate or pan and keep ready. In a heavy bottomed pan, add everything except the pistachios, ghee, and vanilla extract. Mix well, and then turn on the heat to medium (level 5 on a scale of 0-10)
2. Keep stirring until the mixture melts and liquifies. Now, add ghee and vanilla extract. 
3. Keep stirring until the mixture bubbles, thickens and leaves the sides of the pan and comes as a mass, as shown in the picture. It takes just about 15 minutes from the start to get the mixture to this state. 
4. Immediately transfer this to the pan and using a greased spatula spread on the pan. 
5. Let the mixture cool until you can touch. Then score it with a sharp and greased knife (just so that each bite is approximately of the same size). If the fudge is too sticky, refrigerate for half an hour. Then, pinch out each scored fudge and roll into a ball and gently press into a disc. Place a shelled pistachio in the center. 

Serve at room temperature. If the weather is humid, the fudge might get a little moist, but will not melt or get sticky. Store in the fridge.