Kalakand is yet another Indian sweet which is made using milk. It basically has only 2 ingredients – milk and sugar, everything else is optional. The good part about this sweet is that it’s easy to make, is tasty and not too filling like most desserts. The bad part? it doesn’t have a long shelf life, tastes best when consumed fresh.
So this was made because once again I had lot of whole milk in my fridge and every time I have excess milk, I tend to make Indian sweets/desserts. There’s also a quicker version of kalakand which is made using milk powder and condensed milk, maybe i’ll try it out the next time.
Ingredients
Whole Milk: 2 liters
Lemon juice: 3 tbsp
Powdered Sugar: 3/4 cup or to taste
Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
Clarified Butter/Ghee: 1 tsp [optional]
Pistachios: To garnish
Method
* Take 1 liter milk in a wide and heavy bottom pan. Put it to boil.
* Once it comes to a boil, switch off the flame and remove the pan from the stove. Add in the lemon juice till the milk starts to curdle.
* Using a strainer, drain the liquid and keep the paneer/chena aside.
* Now that we have made the chena, the next step is to thicken the remaining 1 liter of milk.
Making the Kalakand
* In another heavy bottom pan, put the remaining 1 liter of milk to boil.
* Continue boiling till the milk starts to thicken, keep stirring the milk at regular intervals else it might get stuck at the bottom.
* After around 20 minutes add the chena that we prepared before to the thickened milk. Stir the mixture continuously. Keep the flame at medium-low heat.
* Cook the mixture for another 10 minutes or so and add in the cardamom powder.
* The mixture will start to get really thick now. Add powdered sugar, ghee/butter and mix. Once you add the sugar, the mixture will again become little thin. Keep cooking till it starts becoming thick again.
* Once the mixture reaches a consistency where it’s looks like it will set, switch off the flame and keep the pan aside.
* Take a tray/plate, grease it with little butter or ghee and pour the mixture on it. Press the mixture using a spatula or your hands,
* Garnish with pistachios, slightly press the nuts into the mixture. Let the mixture cool down for 2-3 hours.
* Once the kalaland has set in, cut into squares or any shape you like.
* Keep the sweet refrigerated for a longer shelf life.