Kalakand
Kalakand, a delicious milk based sweet with hints of cardamon, is yet another way of enjoying the goodness of milk. It is similar to Barfi and usually prepared on festivals like Diwali, Navaratri and Holi. Kalakand can be prepared at home in two different ways; 1) in traditional way by simmering the milk on low heat until reduced to semi solids, and 2) in instant way by using Paneer and sweetened condensed milk. The tradition cooking approach requires longer cooking time compared with instant method. However, whether its cooked in a traditional way or in instant way, its final taste and texture is similar. This Kalakand Recipe follows instant approach, requires only three ingredients, sweetened condensed milk, paneer and cardamom, and explains entire process with step by step photos.
| Ingredients: |
| 1½ cups tightly packed grated Paneer (approx. 200 grams) |
| 200 ml Condensed Milk (1/2 tin) (3/4 cup) |
| 1/4 teaspoon Green Cardamom Powder |
| 5-7 Pistachios, finely chopped, for garnishing |
| Ghee, for greasing the pan |
Directions:
- You can either use the ready made paneer or fresh homemade paneer or chenna for this recipe. Follow this recipe (step-1 to step-5) to make fresh homemade paneer/chenna. Pour 2-3 glasses of water over prepared chenna/paneer to remove any sourness of lemon juice. Keep it aside until required.
- If your want to use readymade paneer and if it is frozen/refrigerated, thaw it at room temperature. Either grate it using a grater. Or alternatively, you can crumble it using a mixer grinder; add the paneer cubes in the small jar of mixer grinder and pulse it few times to crumble it.
- Grease inside surface of small deep plate with ghee.
- Add crumbled/grated paneer and condensed milk in a heavy based kadai/pan. (Don’t turn on the stove yet.)
- Mix well using a spoon.
- Heat the mixture over low flame. Stir continuously and cook until it turns thicker.
- As you stir and cook, mixture will start to stick on the sides of the pan as seen in the photo. It will take around 4-7 minutes to cook the mixture.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder.
- Mix well and turn off the flame.
- Transfer mixture to greased plate. Shake it gently to evenly spread the mixture. Level the mixture with a spatula.
- Sprinkle dry fruits over it and gently press them with a spatula.
- Let it cool down to room temperature. Cover and place it in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.
- Remove it from the refrigerator and cut into small pieces.
- Gently remove the pieces and transfer them to a serving plate. Serve and enjoy.
Tips and Variations:
- First mix the condensed milk and paneer very well before turning on the heat/flame. This will prevent sticking while cooking.
- Use freshly made paneer instead of refrigerated store bought paneer. Freshly made panner help make kalakand softer.
- Refrigerating kalakand will make it harder. If you like softer kalakand that you can eat with spoon, do not put it in refrigerator to cool down.
Taste: Sweet with mild Cardamom flavor
Serving Ideas: Serve kalakand on its own or with other namkeen or salty snacks like chakli, farsi puri, sev, mathri etc.