Kalakand

Kalakand has been one of those melt in the mouth sweet dishes that make you feel all warm and fuzzy. I made this one for Janmashtmi and it has been a hit among family and friends.

You shall need: [Time taken- 2.5 hours]

2 L Full cream Milk

3 tbsp lemon juice

60 gms sugar

1.5 tsp cardamom powder

20-25 soaked raisins- chopped

Chopped nuts

muslin cloth

Ghee greased tray/plate

Knife

Method:

• Boil 1L milk in two bowls.[1L in each bowl]
• With one we shall make paneer and with the other we need to reduce it to half.
• The milk to be reduced in half should be on a medium slow heat.
• To the milk for paneer, add a tsp at a time of lemon juice. We want to be cautious about adding the lemon because we do not want the paneer to be sour.
• Once the milk solids separate, collect the paneer in muslin cloth and let it sit there for 20 min.
• Once the milk to be halved has reached the desired level, add the sugar, raisins and cardamom powder.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, add the paneer, little at a time and stir continuously.
• Now after this point, you cannot really leave the mixture and loiter.
• Watch it well and keep stirring it so that the mix does not stick to the bottom and burn.
• So that we want to do here is remove the moisture as much as possible, we want to left with milk solids with a beautiful colour.
• Once the liquid is evaporated, pour the contents on the greased plate and shape as desired.
• Put the nuts on top and cover with a lid and put some weight on it. Any liquid that didn’t escape earlier shall find it’s way out.
• Cut and serve.

Notes:

1. After adding the raisins, the colour of the kalakand shall change a bit. It will look very pale brown. Don’t get alarmed, this is the desired result.
2. Your milk vessels must me very clean with no trace of soap.
3. You may add some saffron to get the yellow tinge.

The entry is for The Urban Spice Sweet September Giveaway.

Cheers,