Discovery of “sandesh”
The credit of the discovery of “sandesh” goes either to the Bengalis or the Portuguese of “Bandel Church” as there is little difference between a particular kind of Portuguese cheese and the Bengali “chana”. “Rabri”, another kind of Bengali confection is actually not a pure Bengali dish and holds its roots in Lucknow. The name “sandesh” was not associated with confections made from “chana” but was widely used in connection to sweets prepared from chickpea flour, coconut and grams. Sugar balls were also named as “sandesh”. 

These sugar balls are still being sold in front of different temples in Bengal as “sandesh”. But the evolution of “sandesh”, through which the Bengalis have conquered the world, is rather a new affair. At first these “sandeshes” in rural areas were known as “Phike Sandesh” as the taste of these were not sweet enough to satisfy the palate and as a result were not preferred by many.

Asu Bhog of Sir Asutosh Mukherjee

It is a fact that Sir Asutosh Mukherjee had been immortalized by the confectionary industry as the first officially registered brand name in the history of food and confectionary in Bengal was “Asu Bhog”, presentated by Bhim Nag. Prior to this, none of the confections were registered. “Gupo Sandesh” was not available anywhere else

other than “Guptipara” and in all occasions the rich and the famous in Bengal headed for “Guptipara” to place orders. One salient feature of “Gupo Sandesh” was that, it had to be made from “chana” extracted from cow’s milk only.