Kalakand Recipe

Like a lot of my fellow Indians, I also have a sweet tooth and I just love misti.. I’m always tempted to buy more than I need at the local mithai shops. With so many options to choose from, and with constant innovations on mithais, the treat keeps getting sweeter. There are still tons of options for traditional sweets, one of which is kalakand. Kalakand comes from the state of Rajasthan, although it is widely used all over the north Indian states. Made with sweetened milk and a slight deviation from burfi, the sweet has a very nice grainy texture and an amazing taste. The traditional way to make a kalakand could be very cumbersome, so we give you an easy-to-follow recipe where kalakand can be made quickly and has the same great taste. It is widely used in religious ceremonies and festivals and looks great when decorated with pistachios and a silver foil. You can easily try your hand at this simple recipe and have a sweet ending to your meals.

  

 

Ingredients needed for Kalakand

v     Milk – 1 litre

v     Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

v     Sugar – 1cup

v     Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

v     Condensed Milk – 14 oz

v     Rose Water – 1/4 – 1/2 tsp (or 2-3 drops of Rose Essence)

v     Chopped Pistachios – 1/2 tbsp

v     Chopped almonds – 1/2 tbsp

To garnish

v     Almond flakes

v     Chopped Pistachio

Method

1. Squeeze some lemons, you will need 1.5 tblspn of lemon juice, line a sieve with muslin cloth and place it over a big bowl.
2. Take milk in a pot and put it on high heat. Let it come to a boil. Once it boils, take it off the heat and let it sit for 1 min.
3. Now add in lemon juice and mix gently. The milk will curdle. Once a greenish whey separates from the milk and the milk solids have curdled completely. Strain it in the sieve.
4. Now take a big bowl of cold water and wash the chenna well. rinse it in three changes of water.
5. Now squeeze it gently with your hands to remove any excess whey water, Tie a knot and hang it over a tap and leave it to drain for 2hr. I squeezed occasionally to make things faster.
6. After 2hr, take the chenna in a bowl and knead it gently, by rubbing with your palms and knuckles till you get a soft dough.
7. Mash chenna coarsely and mix in condensed milk and milk powder. Heat the mixture in a thick bottom pan. Cook on low - medium heat with constant stirring till the mixture becomes thick and starts leaving the sides of the pan. Remove from the fire and spread onto a greased plate/tray. Make sure you dont spread it too thin. Level it with the back of a spoon or an icing spatula.
8. Finally add cardamom powder and mix again. Turn off the heat.
9. Grease a tray with ghee (clarified butter) and pour the mixture in the tray. Spread it evenly.
10. Chop the pistachios n Almond flakes roughly and sprinkle on the top. Press them a little so that they are stuck to the kalakand mixture.
11. Let it sit for a few hours till it sets. Now cut it in pieces with a sharp knife and enjoy.

Note:

There are two very important things to be noticed while making kalakand.  First one, make this Indian sweet in a thick bottomed pan.  The second one is keep stirring in low flame till the mixture gets cooked well, becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan.  Also, the paneer used should be very soft and don’t cook the paneer too much otherwise, it will become rubbery.