Instant Kalakand

                

Ok so here’s the next yellow dish- oh no  🙊  I mean next Diwali dish, Kalakand. It’s one of the easiest recipes I have come across. For those of you who don’t know, Kalakand is just paneer. Which is sweet. Which is creamy. And has loads of nuts. So all the criteria that needs to be fulfilled to enter my favourites list is fulfilled. Hence Kalakand is now officially my favourite dish. I am already in love with paneer. And if it is going to be sweet…😍

This recipe is from the official website of the milkmaid brand that I used. This is the instant version. I will share the traditional one in a later post. I have used homemade paneer, which takes as much time as it takes my kids to finish a whole plate of kalakand (approximately ten minutes, as I have three kids. Way lesser if I join them 😉). But you can also use store brought paneer, if today’s your lazy day. But I will always prefer the homemade one, as it is fresh and soft and yields good results.  

Preparation time: 5 minutes: Cooking time: 30 to 40minutes
Course: Dessert| Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients:

Milk- 2 litres

Lemon juice- 2 tblsp

Milkmaid- 1 full tin (400 gms)

Milkpowder-2 tblsp

Pistas- for garnish

Ghee- to grease the plate.

Method:

1.      Boil 2 litres of milk in a large vessel. When it starts boiling start adding the lemon juice. Add a spoon first and see if the milk curdles. If not, add a little more. Keep boiling the milk in medium flame. Within three or four minutes, the milk will fully curdle. Switch off flame.

2.      Use a muslin cloth and strain the whey water. Keep the whey water aside.

3.      Pour a glass of cold water over the chena (paneer obtained from curdling the milk) to remove the smell of lemon. Squeeze the muslin cloth and remove the excess water from the chena.

4.      Transfer the chena to plate. Crumble it finely with your fingers.

5.      Add the crumbled chena to a kadai along with milkmaid and milk powder. Cook over medium flame and keep stirring.

6.      After few minutes, the whole mixture will melt and become liquid form. Keep stirring and cook over medium flame.

7.      Slowly the mixture will start to thicken. Add cardamom powder and mix well.

8.      Cook till it starts leaving the kadai and forms a lump.

9.      Transfer it to a plate greased with ghee. Level it up.

10.   Garnish with finely chopped pistas. Gently press with the back of a ladle so that the nuts stick to the kalakand.

11.   Let it cool for 2 to 3 hours. Then later cut into pieces.

Notes:

·        If the mentioned amount of lemon juice is not enough to curdle the milk, feel free to add more.

·        Don’t throw away the whey water. It is very nutritious. We can use it for making chapattis, cooking pastas and soups.

·        This recipe can be made with store bought paneer too. If so follow the recipe form step 4. However, I would suggest you to make paneer at home and do. It is just a matter of extra 10 minutes. The homemade paneer is fresh, soft and yields good results.

Step by step pictures 

 boil milk in a vessel.

 add lemon juice to curdle it.

 milk is curdled

 strain the curdled milk 

in a muslin cloth

 pour cold water over the chena

 squeeze the cloth and

remove excess water

 transfer it to a plate 

crumble finely

 add the chena to a kadai

along with milkmaid and milkpowder

stir well.

cook over medium flame

 the mixture will melt

keep stirring in between

 after sometime it will thicken.

add cardamom powder

stir well and switch off

 transfer it to a greased plate

 level it equally

 garnish with nuts

let it cool for 2 to 3 hours

once set, cut into pieces.

kalakand is ready.