KESARIA KALAKAND/INSTANT KALAKAND WITH A HINT OF SAFFRON
We are blessed with a huge variety of scrumptious sweets. Indian sweets or mithai are prepared with a large number of different ingredients. Many of them are milk-based on the other hand some of them are cereal and grain-based. All the states of India have their own specialty in sweets
Kalakand keeps a special place among North Indian sweets, especially in Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana. This is a milk-based sweet that is prepared with chhena or paneer. This is rich, creamy as well as grainy because of chhena(cottage cheese). Whole milk is used to prepare chhena which gives it extra richness. That is why, this sweet is called Indian milk cake This is a very simple sweet, prepared with a few ingredients. Originally, this sweet is kept white and garnished with pista/pistachio shavings. I have added saffron or kesar which has given it an extraordinary taste and colour. This tasty sweet can either be prepared from scratch or with paneer with an easy method at home in no time
Prep Time – 5 minutes
Cook Time – 25 minutes
Course – Dessert
Cuisine – North India (Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi etc)
Author – Bharti Dhawan
● INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
• Paneer/Cottage Cheese – 250 gms
• Whole milk – 1 cup (150 ml)
• Sugar – 1 bowl (150 gms)
• Ghee – 1+1 tsp
• A few saffron strands
• Green cardamom/choti elaichi powder – a pinch
• Almond-pistachio (badam-pista)slices for garnishing – 2 tbsp
● METHOD
1- First of all mash paneer finely with hands.
2- Keep a kadahi on the flame and add 1 tsp ghee. Add mashed paneer and roast for 4-5 minutes at low flame (the colour should not be changed)
3- Add 1 cup of milk and allow to boil at medium-high flame
4- Add saffron strands and cardamom powder at this stage. Combine well and you will notice that the color of the kalakand changes after a few minutes
5- Time to add sugar. Mix well and allow the mix to boil
* After adding sugar, the paneer mix becomes a little liquidy
6- Within 5 minutes the paneer will become thick. Switch off the flame before it becomes too dry
* Let some milk remain in the kalakand mix. It tastes better when it feels juicy
7- Pour the kalakand mix into a greased tray and garnish with badam-pista flakes. Allow it to cool down completely
* You can refrigerate kalakand for sometime
8- When the Kalakand is cooled completely, cut into desired size and shape
TIPS AND NOTES
* Kalakand has a small shelf life so must be refrigerated after making
* Milk powder can be added while making for extra richness
* I have made kalakand instantly with paneer but it can be prepared from scratch with milk by splitting it with lemon juice/vinegar
Enjoy the Kesaria Kalakand during festive days
HAPPY JANMASHTMI 🙏
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