Kalakand

kalakand in Marathi

Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 15 medium pieces

Ingredients:
1 liter Milk
1/2 tsp Citric Acid or Juice of 1 lemon
150 gram Khova
3/4 cup Sugar (approx 150 to 175 gram)
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
Pistachio Slices for garnishing

Method:
1) Heat milk into a saucepan. Once milk is hot, add 2-3 pinches of citric acid and stir it from bottom. Milk will curdle. Water and milk solids will separate. (add little more citric acid if required.) Line a colander with a cheese cloth. Pour curdled milk in it. Save the paneer.
2) Wash paneer slightly under running water while its still in cheese cloth. This will help to remove sour taste and smell of lemon juice/ citric acid. Twist the edges and squeeze out all the water. No need to hang paneer.
3) Mix khova and sugar together in a nonstick pan. When sugar starts melting, mixture becomes runny. Keep stirring. After 5 minutes add paneer and cardamom powder.
4) Stir continuously. Mixture will thicken and form a lump. Take a square cake tin. Add this mixture to it and Spread evenly. Make 1 inch thick layer. Sprinkle pistachio slices. Cut into 1 inch squares once it cools down.

Tips:
1) Proportion of Khova and paneer can be altered according to your preference.
2) Make fresh paneer at home. After curdling milk, drain and squeeze out all the water. Do not hang paneer for longer. It looses its moisture if hung for longer.
3) I had used 1 tbsp readymade syrup of Saffron and cardamom. It gives nice flavor of both cardamom and saffron. Also, kalakand become pale yellow due to saffron.
4) I have made khova from ricotta cheese. 425 gram ricotta cheese makes 175 gram khova.
5) Amount of sugar can be adjusted to your taste.
6) Silver varakh can be used to garnish kalakand.