Daanedar Kesar Kalakand | Saffron Flavoured Indian Soft Milk Fudge

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Since the time this food blogging bug has bit me, I am always on a lookout for ocassions when I can prepare something new and special (especially sweets and desserts) for my family and share its pictures and recipes with all my foodie friends. With last 15 days brimming with celebrations for Navratri, Dussehra and Karva Chauth, I was overwhelmed with such opportunities and came up with quite a number of festive sweets and dessert recipes including that of Meethi Mathri, Balushahi, Badaam aur Makhaane ki Kheer and off-course my favourite, Bengali Sponge Rasgulla. The quest is not over yet and I am all geared up for trying few more traditional sweets before the Indian festive season comes to an end. So, here's one such mithai specially made for the upcoming Diwali celebrations - soft and melt-in mouth "Kesar Kalakand". It has been prepared with the traditional method of thickening milk with the freshly made chhena until the mixture attains all that fudgy consistency, ideal for setting in a greased plate. Trust me, it might seem to be a lengthy process at first but, its worth all the wait and effort. Do try and share your feedback in the comments section below.








Ingredients




Full fat milk - 2 liters
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 to 2 tsp
Chopped nuts - a handful
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Milk powder - 2 to 3 tbsp
Saffron Strands - a few
Edible dried rose petals (optional) - a few






Method

 1. Boil 1 and 1/2 liters of milk in a deep saucepan. Once it boils, switch off the flame and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Dilute lemon juice with about 2 tbsp of water and add it little by little in the milk continuously stirring it. It will transform into chhena/cheese, separating from the whey.
3. Strain this cheese in a muslin cloth and wash under cold running water. Tighten the cloth and hang till all the water strains from cheese.
4. As you do all this, reduce remaining 1/2 liter of milk to 1/3rd the original quantity in a thick-bottomed wok. Do it on medium-high flame as we want milk to retain white color. If we do it on low flame, it will attain a brownish color.
5. Once the milk is reduced to 1/3rd, add the sugar in batches, 2 tbsp at a time. Let the milk reduce a little again until it resembles condensed milk consistency.
6. Now nicely mash the chhena with your hands or pulse once or twice in a blender. Add it to the reduced milk and continuously stir on medium-high flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Next, add 2 to 3 tbsp of milk powder and keep stirring continuously until it just starts leaving the sides of the wok.
8. Immediately turn off the heat and transfer it into a greased thali. Flatten out with the help of a spatula.
9. Sprinkle with cardamom powder, silver vark (optional) and chopped nuts.
10. Soak few saffron strands in 1 to 2 tbsp of warm milk.
11. Drizzle this milk over the kalakand.
12. Let the kalakand set for 4 to 4 hours before slicing into pieces.
13. The kalakand can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.
14. You can even skip adding kesar or saffron to the kalakand if you just want plain simple kalakand.










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-Anshu 

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