Kalakand

Two dairy preparations in one sweet: chhena kneaded soft and stirred into milk already reduced by half.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 2 litres whole milk, for the chhena
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1.5 litres whole milk, to reduce
• 500 ml water
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 40 g pistachios, chopped

Method

1. TWO DAIRY PREPARATIONS IN ONE SWEET: CHHENA KNEADED SOFT AND STIRRED INTO MILK ALREADY REDUCED BY HALF. Its article sets them out as two separate jobs. TO MAKE KALAKAND, CHHENA (INDIAN CHEESE) IS PREPARED AND STRAINED. SEPARATELY, WHOLE MILK AND WATER ARE MIXED, BOILED, AND STIRRED CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL THE MIXTURE IS REDUCED TO HALF ITS ORIGINAL VOLUME. Only then do they meet. Every other sweet here starts from one dairy thing; this one starts from two and the grain of the finished sweet is the join.
2. SO THE CHHENA FIRST. Bring the two litres to the boil, take it off, stir in the lemon juice and leave it five minutes until it separates cleanly. Strain it through muslin and rinse it under cold water, which stops it and washes the lemon out.
3. AND IT IS KNEADED, NOT LEFT AS CURDS. The article is explicit: THE STRAINED CHHENA IS SOFTENED USING A FOOD PROCESSOR OR BY HAND KNEADING. Five minutes with the heel of your hand on a board turns grains into a smooth paste, and the difference shows in the finished square.
4. REDUCE THE OTHER MILK WITH THE WATER, TO HALF. The water looks pointless and is not: it buys time before the milk starts catching, so you can hold a real boil and stir rather than nursing a simmer.
5. THE TWO GO TOGETHER AND COOK TO A THICK PASTE. The article's order is exact -- the chhena IS THEN ADDED TO THE REDUCED MILK-WATER MIXTURE AND COOKED UNTIL IT BECOMES A THICK PASTE -- and the sugar is not in yet.
6. THEN THE SUGAR, ON A LOW HEAT, STIRRED CONSTANTLY. THEN SUGAR IS ADDED, AND THE MIXTURE IS COOKED ON LOW HEAT AND STIRRED CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL IT THICKENS TO A FUDGE-LIKE CONSISTENCY. Sugar added earlier would hold the water in and double the time.
7. GHEE LAST, AND FIVE MINUTES MORE UNTIL IT SHINES. The article times this step where it times nothing else: ghee or butter is added AND THE MIXTURE IS COOKED AND STIRRED ANOTHER FIVE MINUTES UNTIL IT ACQUIRES A GLOSSY APPEARANCE. The gloss is the test.
8. SPREAD IT AS A RECTANGLE, PISTACHIOS ON, AND CUT IT COLD. Its article finishes there, on a buttered tray, garnished with pistachios, cut into squares. For how firm to take it, the article's own comparison is the best instruction there is: FIRMER IN TEXTURE THAN MILK CAKE, BUT SOFTER THAN BURFIS.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes