Kalakand

The Kalakand is one of my favourite mithais and has a rich, thick, creamy taste. I always thought it was a difficult recipe, but in fact it was quite simple where the only important thing you need to do is keep stirring the milk. Even the number of ingredients required for the kalakand can only be limited to three — milk, lemon juice and sugar. I was thinking of making this during Diwali but made it on Karwa Chauth instead. I don’t know if you are supposed to have it on this day ideally, but sweets are sweets and my stomach was growling while I was preparing it! The thick milk and chhaana mixture is delicious too, so you can save some before you let it set into mithais. Next time I am fasting, I will not cook or watch Food Network at any cost, it is pure torture!

Prep time: 15 min Cooking time: 1 hour Pieces: 12 (Please remember that the kalakand must set for at least 1 hour in the fridge before you can serve it)


Ingredients:
Whole/full cream milk: 2 litres
Lemon juice: 4 tsp
Sugar: 1/2 cup (with condensed milk. Without condensed milk, 3/4th cup)
Cardamom powder (optional): 1 tsp
Chopped almonds, pista (optional): 2 tbsp

Method:
1) Boil 1 litre milk on medium and keep stirring ocassionally so that it doesnt get burnt from the bottom.
2) Meanwhile, boil the remaining 1 litre milk on medium high too. When it gets hot, add the lemon juice to curdle it and make the chhaana/chena/cheese out of it.

When the cheese separates from the whey, let it cool for 5 minutes and strain it through a muslin cloth or a hankerchief.
3) Collect the cheese in the cloth and twist the cloth so that the excess water is squeezed out. Wash the lump of cheese lightly in cold water so that the lemony taste is washed away.

Keep the whey water for kneading doughs for rotis. (See my roshogolla post for details about how to make chhaana http://meghs-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/10/roshogolla.html).
4) By now the first 1 litre milk which you had set to boil must have reduced almost by half. Let it boil for a few more minutes till it reduces by more than half and gets a thicker consistency.
5) Once it gets thick, add the fresh chena/cheese to it by gently crumbling it with your fingers. Increase the heat to medium high.

6) Keep stirring and when it gets thicker add the condensed milk or sugar and cardomom powder.
7) Now all you have to do is just keep stirring so that it doesn’t stick to the pan, as it starts getting thick faster. When it has a soft runny dough-like consistency, let it set over a flat plate or tray. Make sure that the dough is at least 1/2 inch high so that the mithai pieces get the desired thickness. Sprinkle chopped nuts if you want to.

8) Leave it outside for 30 minutes and then in the fridge for at least 2 hours so that it sets. Cut into square pieces and serve.


Note: Washing the chena with cold water before putting it in the milk was a tip I found on the internet and I am glad I followed it. The water completely washes away the taste of lemon or vinegar and all that remains is a fresh sweet taste, ideal for making mithais.


I had a beautiful marble mortar and pestle in Delhi where I used to grind my spices. I don’t have it here and powdered spices cost a lot. So this is what I usually do: take out some cardamom seeds from the pod and put them inside a small piece of cloth or a hankerchief. And when the milk is boiling just put the pouch in the pan. The flavours of the spices will get infused with the milk and you will not be left with bits of spices while eating the sweets.