English: Traditionally, the Sandesh is prepared with the kheer made by dehydrating the milk through boiling and relentless stirring. However, today no one would be eager to get it that way and has created a shortcut by adding water to khoa available at many nearby sweetmeat shops.

This traditional kheer sandesh is the one offered to the deities at the time of puja, as sweets made out of chhana is considered inappropriate for Gods (because chhana is considered spoilt milk). This traditional kheer sandesh is also the one sent as a gift to the groom's family from the bride's family at the time of the marriage ceremony in Bengal.

Khoa (also called as Mawa or Mewa) is made of either dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating it in an open iron pan (mostly in Northern India) and sold as blocks by weight.

In Bengal however, Khoa is called Kheer, though they differ a bit by their flavor and texture. And khoa is harder than kheer as it has been subjected to evaporation of the water by boiling for a longer period of time.

A detailed preparation procedure has been documented in our YouTube Channel at the address : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ7DbY4s2Ak