Make homemade Kalakand in just 30 mins once you have your chena made. Simple, easy Indian dessert to make for diwali, holi, raksha bandhan.
Indian festivals call for this special milk based mithai. Kalakand is made with chena that is the curdled milk solid. Once the chena is made a few basic ingredients like milk powder and some sugar. Rest all is option.
For flavor you can add cardamom, kesar(saffron) , dry fruit or just about anything you can think about. Even something like chocolate goes very well with this recipe of Kalakand. I made a white chocolate kalakand that was a hit at my home.
How to make chena-
Chena can be made by a few methods. I am using lemon method to make chena. Click here for original post with detailed steps
Chena is also called paneer.
Boil 1 litre of milk and add 1 tbsp of lemon.
Now as soon as the milk seperates strain the chena and keep aside to drain the remaining liquid.
1 litre of milk will make approximately 150gm of chena.
Till then prepare the rest of ingredients.
Can I make kalakand with with toned milk-
Yes you can make chena with toned milk. But the richness in Indian desserts comes from the full fat milk nd cream. And not using a full fat milk may not give you the same results as the toned milk. The kalakand may also be very crumbly as without the fat in the milk there will not be much binding to keep it together.
Why my kalakand keeps breaking-
For first timers making kalakand it’s possible that it may break after cooling it. If that happens most likely you have over cooked the mixture after adding chena. You could reheat the mixture, add few spoons of milk and cook again to get some moisture back in. Reset it again and cut to make slices.
Kalakand is usually a soft set dessert so you won’t get clean slices like a burfi.
Directions to make Homemade Kalakand-
Easy to make Indian dessert homemade kalakand is made with very few ingredients and can be made within 30 mins.
- 1 liter Full fat milk for chena
- 1 lemon freshly juiced
- 1/2 liter Full fat milk
- 1/2 cup milk powder
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1/4 cup sugar or more as per your taste
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1-2 tsp crushed almonds
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Boil 1 liter full fat milk. Once it comes to a rolling boil switch off the heat.
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Add lemon juice. Mix.
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Immediately the milk will start to curdle.
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Leave it to completely curdle for 2-3 mins. If in this time milk does not curdle add a few more drops of lemon juice and heat milk again.
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Once curdled stain to remove whey completely and keep aside.
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In a thick bottom pan start by heating the 1/2 liter milk.
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Once it boils bring the heat down to simmer and boil for 5-7 mins.
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The milk should be reduced a little. Add milk powder and boil again on simmer for 10 more mins.
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Once the milk is reduce to 1/3 add the chena. Keep stirring till chenna is mixed and looks like completely melted in the milk mixture.
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It can take anywhere from 5-7 mins on low flame for everything to come together.
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Meanwhile in a plate or any square tin apply ghee and keep aside.
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Once chena is cooked add sugar, cardamom powder and almonds if you'd like.
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Once sugar is dissolved transfer the mixture to the greased plate. Pat it down to keep it even. Top with more almonds.
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With light hand cut squares. Let it cool for 30 mins before serving.
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Enjoy!
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