Today I will share the recipe of kalakand. It is a traditional Indian sweet, a specialty of Rajasthan. It is in fact a type of milk cake. Traditionally it involves slow cooking of milk, and then partially curdling it with alum. But here I will share a quick method to make it using sweetened condensed milk (I used milkmaid). It shortens the time of cooking to about 15 minutes.
             Home made kalakand is perfect for festivities
As I mentioned in my previous post, that festival of Raksha bandhan is approaching. I promised, I will delve a little on this festival for those who are not aware of it. It is a Hindu festival that celebrates love between brother and  sister. It also celebrates loving relationship between cousins, or between man and women not related by blood who have bonding similar to siblings. On this day, sister ties a thread called rakhi on the wrist of her brother, and prays for his well being. Brother in return promises to protect her in all  circumstances. Sisters give sweets to their brothers, and brothers in return give gifts to their sisters. To an extent it is a secular festival, and there are many legendary tales about the spirit of rakhi between people of  different religion. A famous  legend  says that widow Hindu queen Karnavati sent a sacred thread to Muslim emperor Humayun when her kingdom was attacked by enemies. Emperor Humayun was touched by this gesture, and he immediately proceeded with his army to protect her. There is another story about Alexander the Great and Indian King Porus. Alexander’s wife Roxana sent a sacred thread to Porus requesting him not to harm Alexander in the war. Porus restrained himself and did not harm Alexander when he had an opportunity.
             Delicious, mildly sweet kalakand
In this fast paced life nowadays we all prefer to buy sweets for the festivals from the market. If we keep aside some time, and prepare some eatables on our own, it gives personal touch to the occasion. There are many dishes that are neither difficult to make, nor time consuming. We spend time, energy and much more money in buying sweets from the market. We can utilize that time in preparing something at home. Soft and mildly sweet kalakand is a dessert  that does not take much time, and is neither very complicated to make. I use condensed milk to make it, as I have mentioned earlier. Paneer/ cottage cheese/ curd (not Indian dahi)  is combined with condensed milk, cooked for some time, flavored with cardamoms, and that’s it! After cooling,  the mixture is cut into square pieces, and our kalakand is ready.
I have earlier shared many more such easy dessert recipes such as rice kheer, bhapa doi, and mango vanilla panna cotta.
Here is a video that I have recorded to demonstrate how to make kalakand at home.
An easy recipe of kalakand
Recipe of kalakand using milkmaid
Please click on the printer sign to save and take a printout of the recipe given below.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1/2 kg or approximately 15 pieces of kalakand | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 15 minutes | 2 hours |
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I have made this kalakand using condensed milk with paneer. I have also added powder milk to improve the consistency of kalakand, though it is optional. Use more paneer if you like grainy kalakand, and miore condensed milk for creamy kalakand. No sugar is added as we are using sweetened condensed milk.
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- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 250 gm paneer/cottage cheese/curd finely grated or properly mashed
- 2 tablespoons powder milk/milk solids optional
- 1/4 teaspoon green cardamom powdered
- 1 tablespoon pisctachios/dry fruits slivered
- 1 rectangular container greased
- Take a heavy bottomed pan. Pour condensed milk in it. Add crumbled paneer and milk solids (powder milk) to it. Mix everything well.
- Switch on the heating, and cook the mixture on low heat. Continuously stir the mixture. Occasionally scrape the base of the pan too, else contents stick to the base, and burn.
- After some time the mixture thickens abd starts leaving the side. It took me about fifteen minutes. The time may vary. Now switch off the heating.
- Add cardamom powder to the mixture.
- Now pour this mixture to the greased pan. Level the content using table spoon.
- Sprinkle pistachio slivers, and press gently using table spoon so that the pistachios get embedded on the surface of kalakand. You can add any other dry fruit too. If you like to eat plain kalakand you can skip this step. In my home plain kalakand is more popular, so I avoid adding dry fruits.
- When the mixture is slightly cold, keep the container in refrigerator for couple of hours.
- On taking out the container from the refrigerator, you will see that the mixture is set, and has completely solidified.
- Cut square pieces of medium size using a knife. Pick out the pieces gently with the help of knife and place them on a serving plate. If you want to eat it later you can keep kalakand in an airtight container, and store in refrigerator. It remains fresh for couple of days.
Tips:
- Continuously stir and scrape the mixture while cooking, as it has a tendency to burn from the bottom.
- Cook it on low or maybe initially on medium heat only for obvious reasons.
- If you want you can add kewra essence or rose water to give extra flavor.
- Kalakand remains slightly soft. If you prefer to eat it hard, eat it as soon as you take it out from refrigerator.
- Store it in airtight container in refrigerator.
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