2 main ingredients and easy to prepare this dish is a perfect way to celebrate biggest festival of lights. It was a success on my 1st try. I was planning to make this kalakand for long time but my husband and son don’t like any sweets. Since it is a Diwali time and I like to send my home made sweet to the close family, I thought why not try kalakand. It turned out absolutely delicious, moist and texture was crumbly. You can add nuts of your choice to garnish kalakand. I added kesar (saffron) but it is not mendatory. Saffron goes well with any Indian sweet. Kalakand is like a milk cake or fudge very moist and flavourful.
This recipe makes around 15-20 squares depending on the size of each squares.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-22 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tub (475g) full fat soft ricotta cheese
1 tin (300ml) sweet condensed milk
1 tsp ghee
2 tbsp warm milk
10-12 strands of saffron (kesar)
Small pinch of cardamom powder (elaichi)
Skinned chopped Almond, cashew, pistachio and saffron for garnishing
Procedure
1. Mix saffron with warm milk and keep on side.
2. Prepare a tray/pan to set the kalakand. Grease an 8″ square baking pan or circle pan with ghee. I also layered parchment paper and then greased with ghee again. This helps in removing pieces easily.
3. Grease non-stick pan, in which you are cooking, with ghee or butter otherwise mixture will stick to the pan.
4. Mix ricotta cheese and sweet condensed milk in greased non stick pan. Turn on the heat and cook on low to medium heat stirring continuous until mixture gets slightly thick. It will first turn in liquid and then it will start thickening. Stay close, don’t leave the mixture unattended or it will burn quickly.
5. Then add saffron mixed with milk and cardamom powder to the mixture. Mix well.
6. Continue to cook on low heat until mixture is thick. You should be able to collect it in one side of the pan. It should not be runny. It will start to leave the side of the pan. Kalakand mixture is now ready. Mine took around 20-22 minutes. The time will vary depending on the temperature you cook.
7. Spread the mixture in greased pan. Garnish with chopped almond, cashew and pistachio. You can also sprinkle some saffron strand. Let it cool down at room temperature then transfer to refrigerator. Once it completely cools down then make square pieces of about 1″ diameter with sharp knife.
8. When you remove the pieces from the tray, be very careful. The pieces are very moist and can easily break. Store in any flat container in a single layer only. Keep in refrigerator until finished. It can stay good for few days.
Cardamom and saffron adds wonderful flavour to kalakand. The texture is crumbly. It’s a perfect gift during any festival. Try it and I am sure you will be surprised how easy and how delicious it is!!
The non-stick pan in which you prepare kalakand will be stickly as soon as it dries out. Here is how you can clean it easily.
Please do leave a comment or let me know if you have any questions regarding this dish. .
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