Kalakand Recipe

Kalakand is a popular sweet made out of solidified, sweetened milk called Khoya and Paneer (cottage cheese). Growing up in Bangalore this used to be one of our favorite sweets. It has a rich, decadent and melt-in-your moth taste. Traditionally made, it is a very long process in which the Khoya and Paneer are made from scratch. After that they are mixed together along with sugar until thickened. They are then cut into squares and garnished with pistachios. Indira has posted a detailed recipe here. Whenever I look at the post, I marvel at the description, pictures, and the process and hope that some day I shall be able to take that long road.

I have also seen Sandeepa’s recipe for Microwave Kalakand made the easy way and have been hooked onto it. This requires only 2 major ingredients Ricotta Cheese and Condensed Milk, the ingredients are readily available and all that is required is mixing and cooking in the microwave. This does not require any baby sitting or stirring continuously and delicious Kalakand is ready in about 20 minutes.

We had a pot luck party at a friend’s place recently and because of time constraint I whipped this up and took it to the party.

This recipe is a true time saver, a good one to make if you are looking for something delicious yet hard pressed for time. Thanks Sandeepa for sharing this easy and delicious way of making Kalakand, I am sure I will cherish this for days to come.

Recipe Source:

Ingredients: 1 measure ricotta cheese ( I used part skim ricotta cheese)

• 1.5 measure of condensed milk (I used low-fat version)
• 2-3 cardamoms powdered
• Almonds/pistachios slices for garnish

Method:

• Take a microwaveable dish (recommend using a tall glass dish) and lightly grease it.
• Mix the ricotta cheese and condensed milk well and microwave for 4 minutes. (This depends on the power of the microwave).
• Take it out and mix it well and microwave for another 4 minutes. The mixture tends to boil and spill over, so be careful.
• Repeat the above step, until the mixture becomes dry, grainy and no longer sticks to the hand.
• Add the cardamom powder and mix well.
• This is very forgiving. If it becomes too dry, then add a spoonful of condensed milk and microwave again. In my microwave it took 20 minutes to complete.
• Grease another flat plate and then transfer this mixture onto the plate and press it well. Cool and cut into squares. Garnish with almonds/pistachios.