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I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while but did not feel the need to do so. This is another version of the recipe that I have ...

Kalakand: Two Recipes - With Pine Nuts And Another Without Nuts

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while but did not feel the need to do so. This is another version of the recipe that I have already posted here. The recipe has evolved over the years and months and now I can make this sweet closing my eyes and it turns out perfect all the time.The only major difference in taste is with the use of pine nuts, it does creates magic. It was by accident that my sister Latha created it. She was in a hurry to make her sweets for Deepavali and forgot to add milk powder which was required in the recipe. She said it tasted better than the one with the milk powder. Once I tasted it I was so hooked on it. Made it a zillion times ( you know I am joking right!) but it has been perfect every single time and these days I don't care to measure. Its one of those sweets where you can never go wrong, after all every ingredient that is added is tasty. The perfect last minute sweet to make which can be served warm or cold when you have a unexpected guests. I have two versions here, one with pine nuts and the other with coconut.



There was no reason for me to use the coconut because, I love it with nuts. But, my friend was disappointed that she could not taste the one with nuts(allergies) while her whole family were going ga ga over it. It was just my test run last weekend, and since my whole family is so addicted to the one with nuts we felt coconut was not as good as the nut one. True, there is a lot of fat in nuts and sure they make everything taste good. Not too happy with the outcome, I closed the lid over the glass bowl pushed it into the fridge. After two days I opened it and guess what, we have a new reaction to the same sweet. It tasted very nice, maybe not as good as the nuts but still good enough. So I was all excited and decided to blog about it because I know there are lot of people looking for nut free sweets. The perfect post for Priya's Cooking With Seeds Event: Cardamon

Gadgets: ( Same for both recipes)

Microwave
Microwave safe glass container (preferably a rectangle /square one)
Spatula
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Parchment paper
Prepared Square or Rectangle Baking Pan
Knife
Blender /Nut Chopper
Wooden Mold : I know a lot of you have been mentioning the wooden mold. I don't know if it used only for kalakand. I was in the check out counter at North Park Produce in San Diego and found these wooden molds. I guess someone must have decided not to add them to their cart. I looked at it, thought it looked very interesting and as I like to use wood a lot I picked it up for a dollar and a half. I had put them away and happen to find them yesterday and decided to use it to mold kalkand.




Ingredients: (For With Pine Nuts Recipe)

The use of Pine nuts and Ricotta Cheese takes it from being a core Indian sweet to an Italian dessert.
Condensed Milk - 1 can
Cream of Wheat/Coarse Rava/ Fraina - 1/2 cup
Pine Nuts - 1 cup chopped coarsely ( If you do not have pine nuts use cashews only)
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Butter - 3 tbsp
Ricotta Cheese - 15 oz
Cardamon Pods - 2


Ingredients: (For With Coconut )
Condensed Milk - 1 can
Cream of Wheat/Farina/Coarse Rava - 1/2 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup ( fresh or frozen if very coarse use the mixer and blend them a little before use)
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Butter - 3 tbsp
Ricotta Cheese - 15 oz
Cardamon Pods - 2


Preparation: (For both recipes)

1. In a microwave safe container add the first ingredient and second ingredient mix well before adding the rest of the ingredients but, do not add cardamon to the mix.

2. Place it in the microwave (Very important to be aware of the power of your microwave) and cook for 5 minutes ( if you are not sure about the microwave's power cook in 3 minute increments).

3. Remove and mix well and put it back in the microwave. cook it for another 5 minutes remove and mix. Then reduce the time and cook it for 3 minutes twice taking care to mix each time in between. At the end of the 16 minutes you must be able to see the mix all coming together and no trace of moisture. If you make a small ball with the mix it must form easily and not stick.

4. Transfer the mix to a baking pan lined with parchment paper spread evenly, cut it with a knife into cubes and allow to cool and store in the fridge. This can be served warm or cold.

38 comments:

  1. Wow wat a fantastic sweets, my all time favourite, loved that mould looks so cute...both versions of kalakand tempts me a lot, thanks for sending to CWS dear..

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  2. Oh my god.....Iam so making this .....thank u...thakn u and thank u......we love kalakand......i can make this with full confidence since my hubby too likes kalakand unlike other sweets which he hates....bookmarking dear....One doubt though....What is cream of wheat?!?....Is it aatta?....or is it semolina?...Might be a silly question...But i am sure many wouldnt know that...

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  3. Before i leave....i loved the shape of that templpate, that groovy one, and loved the imagination there:)Vey nice pics too...worth making anyone drool....

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  4. Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww.... Delicious Kalakand.. looks awesome dear!!

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  5. Awesome... it looks fantastic!

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  6. I loved ur plate and the mould dear. The kalakand looks so good too.

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  7. omg this looks so dleicious,..

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  8. Hi all, thank you, Shabs, cream of meat is Rava, it is the coarse variety. I used that to make this recipe easy for non - Indians too. Sure give this one a try and let me know.

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  9. Delicious.....BTW what is cream of wheat?

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  10. Hey sri nice idea of using with pine nuts.. surely must try with pine nuts.. I love kalakand and me too make only quick version.. All picture perfect clicks are making me drool and the plate is pretty too.. looks so good in the clicks.

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  11. Hi Sailaja,Rava the Coarse one is Cream of wheat which you can find in the regular grocery store.
    I have added all the other names in the recipe now. sorry for causing this confusion.

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  12. Lovely clicks first time here....love ur recipes and clicks..Keep up the gud work!

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  13. :)...thanks to u so much for getting back to me dearie....i will let you knw once i make this....for teh time being, i have loads of sweets at home, so let me get over with all those now...But, sure i am makingthis, might take a while...

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  14. Can it be presented any better? Wonderful Srimathi :)

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  15. Great! Thank you for mentioning my name in your blog. You have improvised the recipe and it looks awesome. I am sure it tastes good too!

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  16. Both versions look beautiful!

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  17. Wow....! this is an amazing sweet recipe..I love your perfect presentation. Hats off to your energy level dear.

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  18. Hey dear,
    A nice indo-italian recipe. Lovely sweet.Is that wooden spatula a Kalakand mould? Can you tell me what it is?

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  19. Thank you for all the lovely comments. To answer the question about the wooden mold, I don't know what it is supposed to be used for.I just found it in a store.I guess it is a general mold.

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  20. I had made rava coconut kalakand using ricotta some time back and it was a hit. Yours look pretty much the same but I fell in love with your mold. I have some which I use for Sakkare Acchu, but they are not easy to remove like yours is. I am so making these again and leaving it as snacks for kids when I am away next week.

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  21. Love both the versions of kalakand.The wooden mould looks very cute.

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  22. Wow,lovely pictures and presentation!

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  23. Any substitute for ricotta cheese as i don't find it here? Please reply i want to try this very badly asi loveeeeeeeeee kalakand.
    Very good presentation!!

    Riya

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  24. i really love the nutty :) one!!looks yumm..i like that mould..

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  25. Both versions of kalakand look fabulous and tempting . Lovely pictures as usual Srimathi!

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  26. I have made them a couple f times, but always from scratch.. should try your simplle method next time

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  27. I love the coconut one and awesome pictures!

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  28. Hi Riya,

    The substitute for ricotta cheese is fresh paneer not the store bought because they are firmer and will not be of the same consistency. That is the closest I can think of. If you need more info let me know.

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  29. great dish!
    Thank you.

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  30. wow! never heard of pine-nuts added to kalakand - truly an ingenious variation :)

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  31. Wow !!! amazing, simply amazing. I love them. Will surely give it a try. Beautiful blog. Following you.

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  32. i made kalakand, referring to urs, with minor changes, but with huge amount....I have linked ur site to mine, pls check it out.delicious....froze the rest cos i will have heart attack cos i just cant stop eating them.

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  33. I have made this recipe of yours nearly 7 times now and every time I do it is more delicious. I made this last night for few guests and they enjoyed it so much that I just have couple of more pieces left. Thank you so much for this recipe. It is the simplest, easiest, very less time consuming and delicious sweet. Yummyyyy..

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  34. Now this is definitely something I should comment on. I hate making sweets. I had a party for about 50 people this weekend and was having nightmares about the dessert. I made 2 batches of this recipe and it took all of 30 minutes. Of course the second time took lesser time. I am not a sweet person but I think I ate about 15 pieces in 2 days. I refrigerated it and served it the next day for the party and had so many people asking for the recipe. I directed them to this website. Thank you so much... I did look like a super dessert maker in front of my friends.

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  35. Wow delicious..looks yummy..Pine nuts is a healthy and international twist to our regular dish.

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