Name: Kalakand / Easy Kalakand Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 Litres or 8 Cups whole milk or full-fat milk; 4 tbsp white vinegar or lime/lemon juice (may need more or less); 2 Cups crumbled chhena or grated Paneer; 1⅓ Cups condensed milk; ¼ Tsp cardamom powder; 1 Tsp rosewater or 3 drops of rose essence (optional); 10 Unsalted pistachio (roughly chopped)

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Kalakand is a soft, tender, creamy, and delicious Indian sweet. The recipe comes together very easily and quickly. It is suitable for festivals, celebrations, or even just for the sweet craving. Even a small piece of Kalakand is very satisfying and filling.

We need very few ingredients to make this dessert, and we need less than 30 minutes to make it from scratch.

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What is Kalakand?
About Kalakand
Why Will You Love This Sweet
Ingredients
Step by Step Directions
Serving and Storing Suggestions
Helpful Tips
More Desserts From Chhena
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What is Kalakand?

Kalakand is a popular Indian sweet, and traditionally it is made by reducing milk and sugar. As a result, it is very moist and juicy, with a grainy texture. This melt-in-the-mouth sweet is famous in every Indian household, but particularly in the North and East of India.

About Kalakand

Kalakand is our favorite family sweet. This delicious dessert is easy, quick to make, not overly sweet, and packed with calcium and protein.

I mostly prefer to make Kalakand with the instant recipe. That includes making chhena first and then mixing it with condensed milk and cooking it until it thickens. I love adding some flavors and garnishing it with chopped nuts. However, it is optional, but they add more deliciousness to this milk cake.

The recipe is straightforward and requires only chhena or Paneer and condensed milk. However, these two ingredients are primary for this sweet, and we will need some flavors to enhance the taste.

I always make chhena at home rather than using Paneer to make Kalakand. So, using grated Paneer is another choice, but I generally do not prefer that. Chhena provides more moisture and freshness.

You can use paneer; however, make sure that paneer is soft, moist, and fresh. And anyway, making chhena at home is not difficult at all. And no worries, this recipe is from scratch, from making chhena to Kalakand.

Why Will You Love This Sweet

Soft, Moist, Juicy, and Creamy
Super Delicious
Made with Protein-Packed Chhena
Simple and Straightforward Recipe
Few Ingredients
Done Under 30 Minutes
Perfect for Festivals and Celebrations

Ingredients

Milk: Always use full-fat milk or whole milk to make Kalakand or, more precisely, making chhena. Full-fat milk makes chhena creamier and soft. If we make Kalakand with low-fat milk, the chhena will not be creamier, and Kalakand will not taste pleasant as it should.
Condensed Milk: I always make Kalakand using condensed milk; it provides sweetness, creaminess, and richness.
Cardamom Powder: It provides a sweet and warm flavor to this dessert. So, I will highly recommend using this spice powder to enhance the taste of Kalakand.
Rose Essence or Rosewater: I love using this flavor in some of my milk-based desserts. It provides a delicate floral flavor to this Kalakand. However, you can skip this if you don’t have it.
Nuts: I have garnished the Kalakand with chopped pistachio. But you can skip it or use other nuts like almonds or cashews.

Step by Step Directions

Making Chhena

Bring 2 Litres of milk to boil in a thick pan, stirring frequently to prevent milk from sticking to the bottom.

Once it starts boiling, turn off the heat. Add white vinegar or lime or lemon juice.
If you are using lime or lemon juice, make sure to strain the juice to remove fibers. And then use in the recipe.

The milk will be curdled, and greenish whey will be separated.

Pour this curdled milk into a pan lined with cotton or muslin cloth.
Also, we can strain through a strainer with tiny pores.

Now pour some cold water onto this chhena so that we can wash out the taste of vinegar.
Do not pour too much water.

Gently and lightly squeeze out the water.
Do not squeeze too much, as the chhena should be moist.

Let the chhena rest for a while until the chhena is cool enough to handle.

Making kalakand

Grease a baking pan or glass container with butter or ghee and line with parchment paper.
Keep the parchment paper edges bigger than the pan, so it’s easy to pull Kalakand out of the container. Set aside.

Before starting to make Kalakand, crumble the chhena.
In a non-stick pan or thick base pan, take crumbled chhena and condensed milk.
If you are using store-bought paneer, grate it and use it instead of chhena.

Mix well and cook on low to medium flame, stirring continuously.
Once the mixture starts thickening, taste it, and add more condensed milk at this stage if you prefer it sweeter.

Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture becomes thick like a big lump and stops sticking to the pan.
Depending on your stovetop’s heat, it will take approximately 15-20 minutes or a little more or less time.
So as you see in this picture, it should easily be pulled away from the sides and should not stick to the pan.

Add cardamom powder and also add rose essence or rosewater if you want to use it.

Mix well, and then turn off the heat. Let the mixture cool down a bit in the pan.

Pour this mixture into a prepared pan or container. Smooth the top and garnish with chopped pistachio. You can, however, use your choice of nuts too.
I love garnishing pistachio over Kalakand, but you can also use chopped almonds or cashews.

Refrigerate Kalakand for a few hours or at least for 2 hours. Once it is set, pull it out from the pan.

Cut the Kalakand into the desired shape and size.

Serving and Storing Suggestions

Serve chilled Kalakand immediately or keep it in an air-tight container and store it in the fridge until the time of serving.
Kalakand will not stay at room temperature as it is a milk-based sweet. So keep the leftovers tightly covered in the fridge.
We can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Helpful Tips

Use whole milk or full-fat milk to make chhena for this recipe. However, if you only have low-fat milk, you can replace one cup of it with one cup of heavy cream to make chhena.
Do not squeeze chhena too much, as chhena should be well moistened to make Kalakand. Moist chhena will make juicy and soft Kalakand.
Instead of chilling and shaping Kalakand, you can also serve it loose and warm in a serving bowl.
Adjust the amount of condensed milk as per your sweetness preference. So, start with adding one cup of condensed milk, mix, taste, and then add more as you need.
Instead of white vinegar, you can also use lemon juice. But strain the juice before adding it to the milk.
This recipe can easily be halved or doubled.

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