Kalakand is a South Asian sweetmeat, made with fresh cottage cheese, milk and sugar. Said to have its origin in Alwar in Rajasthan, it is hugely popular in the Indian subcontinent and can be found at every sweet shop. This is a quick & easy recipe for instant kalakand, using freshly curdled cheese or paneer, a can of condensed milk and a tiny bit of sugar.
If you have been following my cooking, then you would have noticed that I do not usually venture into the domain of Indian sweets. Often they are quite cumbersome and tedious. Plus we get an amazing variety of Indian sweets nearby so I do not fuss over making them at home.
However, recently I have started a project and this recipe was a part of that.
Granny’s Recipe Compilation
Here’s something that I have been working on for quite sometime. As you all know that I was quite close to my Nani (Maternal Grandmother). She was practically my culinary encyclopedia! Whenever I was in a tough spot regarding recipes or anything related to cooking, she was my go-to person. .
Already I have a section of recipes dedicated to her. It’s called Granny’s Recipe Compilation. Over the period of time, whatever her recipes I have cooked are documented there. So, its only fair that these new recipes are added to that.
Many years back she gave me her collection of recipes. This included hundreds of recipe cut-outs from popular Bengali Magazines & Newspapers like Sananda, Anandabajar Patrika, Anandalok, etc. .
So, I have been working on those recipes, one at a time. Translating them in English and re-editing them. (Some of them are ridiculously vague!)
So, thought of starting with this one, INSTANT KALAKAND Recipe with Condensed Milk or Milkmaid. You can even see the vintage ad here that they put out for print. Amazing, right??
What goes into the recipe of Kalakand?
It is one of the simplest of all Indian sweet recipes. All you need is some paneer or fresh cottage cheese, reduced milk or condensed milk and some finely chopped nuts. Sugar is totally optional as condensed milk already contains sugar in it.
In case you don’t have paneer, you can make some at home and use that to make kalakand. It hardly take few more minutes to curdle the milk and make some fresh cheese with it.
Here, in this recipe I will list out the process of how to make kalakand with paneer, condensed milk and chopped nuts.
How to make Instant Kalakand with Condensed Milk or Milkmade
Kalakand is a South Asian sweetmeat, made with fresh cottage cheese, milk and sugar. Said to have its origin in Alwar in Rajasthan, it is hugely popular in the Indian subcontinent and can be found at every sweet shop. This is a quick & easy recipe for kalakand, using freshly curdled cheese or paneer, a can of condensed milk and a tiny bit of sugar. If you have been following my cooking,
- 500 ml Cow's Milk or Full Fat Milk
- 1 tbsp White Vinegar
- 1 can Condensed Milk 400ml, I used Nestle's Milkmaid
- 2 tbsp Sugar Optional
- 2 tbsp Nuts Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios – Finely Chopped
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Bring the milk to a boil and add the Vinegar while stirring. You will see the cheese separating into a lump. The whey should be clear liquid.
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Separate the cheese from whey by sieving. Allow it to rest in the sieve itself so as to get rid of the maximum liquid.
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Now, take a heavy bottom pan and add the fresh cheese. Turn on the heat and keep it to low.
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Macerate it nicely with the back of the spoon so as to get rid of lumps.
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Now, add the Condensed Milk and mix everything well.
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Turn the heat to medium and keep stirring. Add sugar if you prefer
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In 4-5 minutes you will see it thickening a bit. Once you see bubbles coming up, turn off the heat.
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Take a flat plate and grease it with some ghee or clarified butter. Pour the mix in it and flatten.
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Spread the chopped nuts on the top and press them gently.
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Allow this to chill for an hour or so. After that cut it in pieces and serve.
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