Three Mango Desserts for Pohela Boishakh: Pudding, Sandesh and Mango Doi

In Bangladesh, Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year, falls every year on 14 April. On New Year's Day 2026, 14 April, the lifestyle desk of Jagonews24 published recipes for three mango desserts to round off the festive meal: green mango pudding, mango sandesh and mango doi. All three can be made quickly with ordinary ingredients found at home.

According to Wikipedia, a committee headed by Muhammad Shahidullah revised the Bengali calendar in 1966, and Bangladesh officially adopted it in 1987; since then the New Year has always fallen on 14 April in the country. The day is a public holiday. Many households welcome guests with panta bhat (watered rice), fried hilsa and many kinds of bhorta, and some also cook polao, roast or beef.

Green mangoes are plentiful in the markets as Boishakh begins. Banglapedia notes that the mango (Mangifera indica) is native to the eastern part of the subcontinent, including Bangladesh, and that the trees flower from January to March. The country has nearly 100 mango cultivars, with most of the superior varieties grown in Rajshahi, Nawabganj and Dinajpur. The mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh.

A change from green mango sherbet or pickle, made in about half an hour.

• Green mango puree: 1 cup
• Boiled milk: 2 cups
• Sugar: to taste
• Agar-agar powder or gelatine: 1.5 teaspoons
• Mango essence: a little

• Soak 1.5 teaspoons of agar-agar powder or gelatine in half a cup of water for 10 minutes.
• In a bowl, mix the boiled milk, sugar and mango puree well.
• Heat the mixture on the stove. When it comes to the boil, add the soaked agar-agar or gelatine and cook a little longer.
• Take it off the heat, pour into a pudding mould and leave to cool.
• Chill in the fridge for a while and serve.

Agar-agar, made from red seaweed, is a plant-based substitute for gelatine. According to Wikipedia, agar must be boiled to dissolve; it melts above 85 °C and sets at around 32 to 42 °C. Gelatine melts below body temperature and long heating near boiling weakens it, so a gelatine pudding should not be boiled for long and needs the fridge to set.

This sandesh can be made with either ripe or green mango. Sandesh is a milk-and-sugar sweet of Bengal; Wikipedia notes that the usual kind is made with chhena and is sometimes flavoured with fruit. This version replaces the chhena with mango pulp, cashew nuts and powdered milk.

• Mango pulp: 1 cup
• Sugar: 1/4 cup
• Powdered milk: 2 tablespoons
• Cashew nuts: 1 cup
• Ghee: 1 tablespoon
• Ground cardamom: a little
• Chopped pistachio to garnish (optional)

• Blend the mango pulp and cashew nuts together.
• Heat the ghee in a pan, add the mango and cashew paste and stir constantly.
• Gradually mix in the powdered milk and sugar, then add the ground cardamom and keep stirring.
• When the mixture leaves the sides of the pan, take it off the heat.
• When slightly cool, shape as you like and garnish with chopped pistachio if you wish.

Mishti doi is the fermented sweet curd of Bengal: according to Wikipedia, milk is boiled until slightly thickened, sweetened and left to ferment overnight, usually in earthenware, whose porous walls thicken the curd and keep the right temperature for the culture. This recipe adds mango pulp.

• Mango pulp: 1 cup
• Sweet curd (mishti doi): 1 cup
• Sugar: if needed
• Liquid milk: 1.5 litres
• Powdered milk: 1/4 cup
• Sugar for the caramel: 2 spoons

• Boil the milk down to half, then mix in the powdered milk and sugar.
• Make a caramel with sugar in a separate pan and stir it into the milk.
• While the milk is lukewarm, mix in the mango pulp and the curd.
• Pour the mixture into a clay or ceramic pot.
• Preheat the oven for 10 minutes, switch it off and place the covered pot inside.
• Take it out after seven or eight hours, chill in the fridge and serve.

Photo: Niriho khoka / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Banglapedia (Mango), Wikipedia (Pohela Boishakh, Mango, Sandesh, Mishti doi, Agar, Gelatin)