Satiate Your Sweet Tooth With Delicious Kalakand

New Delhi: Kalakand (a.k.a. Indian Milk Cake) is a popular Indian sweet made by reducing milk and sugar. It tastes delicious and has a delicate grainy texture.

Ingredients

• 400 grams sweetened condensed milk or 1 tin or can
• 250 to 300 grams Paneer or 2 cups tightly packed grated or crumbled paneer
• ¾ teaspoon cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder) or 6 to 7 green cardamoms – crushed in a mortar-pestle to a fine powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
• 1 teaspoon rose water (optional)
• 10 to 12 pistachios (pista)
• 10 to 12 cashews or almonds (Kaju or badam)
• 7 to 8 strands of saffron (Kesar) – optional

Instructions

Preparation

1. Grease a pan or a tray with some ghee or oil.
2. Crush coarsely pistachios, saffron and cashews or almonds in a mortar-pestle. You can also sliver or slice the nuts.
3. Grate 250 to 300 grams paneer. You can also crumble the paneer. If the paneer is refrigerated, then I suggest to grate it. If freshly made, then you can crumble it finely. There should be no chunks in the crumble.

Making Kalakand Sweet

1. Take 1 tin/can (400 grams) of sweetened condensed milk in a thick bottomed pan or kadai.
2. Add the grated or crumbled paneer to the condensed milk. Mix very well.
3. I did add some sugar as I felt the sweet taste was less for us. I added 1 tablespoons sugar. You can check the taste and add it accordingly.
4. Keep the heat on low or sim and cook this mixture of condensed milk and grated paneer.
5. Stir the mixture often so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
6. The kalakand mixture will start thickening as it simmers and begins to cook.
7. When the mixture gets thickened well, looks like one mass and starts leaving the sides of the pan then switch off the heat.
8. Keep in mind that the kalakand mixture should have some moisture and should not look dry. It should not have a liquid consistency or be runny.
9. It took me 15 minutes on a low heat. Depending on the quality of your pan, pan thickness and size, flame intensity it may take 12 to 16 minutes.
10. Remove the pan from the heat. Add cardamom powder and rose water. Stir very well.

Setting Kalakand

1. Now pour the kalakand mixture in the prepared greases pan or tray.
2. Shake the pan gently so that the mixture spreads evenly. You can also level with a spoon or spatula.
3. Sprinkle coarsely crushed nuts or slivered nuts all over the kalakand.
4. Gently press the nuts with a spoon. Cover and allow the kalakand to become warm or cool completely at room temperature. Then keep in the fridge for a couple of hours for it to set.
5. After it sets, slice the kalakand and serve. In case if you cannot slice the kalakand, then don’t worry. You can just serve it with a spoon like a halwa. It still tastes delicious.
6. Serve kalakand as a sweet or as a dessert. Keep any leftovers in the fridge in an air-tight container. Kalakand keeps well for 2 to 3 days in the fridge.