Diwali always reminds me of home and all the yummy sweets my mom made. We usually had lot of snacks and sweets for the occasion at home. So this year I hosted the Diwali party at my place with all the Indian street food on the menu. But with all the food preparations and decorations at home, I totally forgot about the sweets! That is when I decided to make this quick kalakand as a dessert. Actually Vinay made it this time under my supervision 😉
This recipe was actually introduced to me by my friend Bhagvathi and I have been making it ever since, as it so easy and quick to make. This homemade Kalakand tastes just like or actually better than the one bought from the Indian Sweets Store.
Traditionally Kalakand is made by using curdled milk and reducing it over a low flame. But this quick version tastes just as milky and soft as the traditional one. Kalakand generally tends to be really soft, so you can even serve it like a pudding or ricotta fudge. There are some recipes to make it using a microwave as well, but I am not a heavy microwave user and I prefer my good old pot and pan recipes. Regardless, this recipe turns out a moist rich milk cake – Kalakand.
Steps for making the Kalakand
- Mix Ricotta and Condensed Milk
- Reduce the mix
- Add flavorings
- Transfer for Setting
- Slice for Serving
- 15oz ricotta cheese (1 tub)
- 14oz condensed milk (1 can)
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp rose water or 2-3 drops of rose essence
- 10-12 chopped pistachios
- 10-12 chopped almonds/cashews
- Grease or line a backing sheet or plate or thali and set it aside.
- Tranfer the ricotta to a heay-bottomed or non-stick pan.
- Add the whole can of condensed milk to the ricotta. Mix well.
- Reduce the ricotta mixture on a medium-low heat over a stove, stirring occassionally, around 20-25 minutes. The mixture should be of fudge like consistency at the end.
- While the mixture is reducing you can soak saffron strands in warm milk and chop the nuts.
- Once the mixture has reduced to the desired consistency, turn off the stove. Add cardamom powder, saffron strands and rose water to the mix and combine all the ingredients.
- Transfer the mixture to the backing sheet/plate/thali and spread it evenly using a spatula.
- Sprinkle the corsely chopped pistachios and almonds/cashews over kalakand.
- Store the kalakand mixture in a refrigerator for setting, atleast 1 hr or more.
- Once the kalakand fudge is firm, you can slice it into equal pieces and decorate with pistachio slices for serving.
Yup these are the only 2 ingredients you really need to make this yummy dessert. Transfer the Ricotta to a pan. I used a non-stick pan as the mixture tends to stick to the bottom while reducing. Pour the whole condensed milk can into the pan too. Mix them well together using a spatula. The mix will look like a paste at this point.
Place the pan over a stove on medium-high setting. Keep stirring in between to avoid sticking of the mixture. Reduce the mix to semi-solid state where you can see some chunky granules, around 20-25 minutes. Be careful, as towards the end the mix will start splattering as well. 🙂
While the mixture was getting reduced I chopped some pistachios and cashews using a mortar and pestle. I also made my own cardamom powder by grinding 5-6 cardamoms, and used a strainer to get the fine powder out of it.
I soaked 6-7 saffron strands in some warm milk in a small bowl. Once the ricotta mix has reduced to the desired consistency, add the saffron strands, cardamom powder and rose water to it. Mix well.
Transfer the mix to a greased/lined baking pan or plate or thali. Spread evenly and flatten the mix using a spatula. Sprinkle chopped Pistachios and Almonds on top of the mix. This fudgy mix is really soft and we need to transfer it to a refrigerator for firming, around 1 hr or more. I usually leave it overnight.
Once the fudge is firm, divide it into equal portion slices using a knife. I usually get 30 pieces as I lay them thinner. I also like to decorate each of my slices with a pistachio half.
Now you are ready to serve Kalakand as a dessert!
Quick and easy 2 ingredient recipe for the popular Indian dessert Kalakand. You can serve this soft and moist milk cake as a ricotta fudge or pudding.
Ingredients
Instructions
