Kalakand

                  Outside, the weather has changed a lot. The bright sunlit days have gone and the chill has started to creep in. There is a time in the hottest summer when you  long for this chill to come in. But when it starts to freeze everything…. even the lovely weekend outing with kids, you would simply pray for the summer again. It’s the same every year. But still each season has its own beauty, a thrill which can easily be lighted up with a little kindling. When the Celsius needle starts to drop down, the grasses in the garden starts smelling of barbecue smoke. And the homes are warm with cozy soups and blankets to snuggle up. Not to mention the warm and gay chatters over a cup of hot steaming tea. You could always make it the best time of the year with a little zeal.

                 When the mercury start settling down, if there is something which, shoots up, it is a three year old’s appetite. It’s a wonder how fast the things vanish from my stove with in minutes after it has been cooked and the fruits in the fruit bowl are simply disappearing. My son is too much fond of desserts and he calls it a ‘fooding’. When the frequent openings of the refrigerator door to check if there is any ‘foodings’ remaining left a banging headache, I was desperate to get myself a lock for the fridge. And I found my love in the IKEA store. I can never stop thanking the brains behind them for such small yet immensely great inventions. It was the first thing I bought on my last visit. Since then his curious eyes has been following my suddenly clumsy hands while I fumble to clasp and unclasp it too hastily. LOL !

                  A warm dessert seemed like a great option in this cold weather. I thought it would calm down my son’s animosity towards the refrigerator lock. I have long been planning to make ‘Kalakand’ at home, but hadn’t yet.It is a very popular Indian sweet which has all the virtues of whole milk as it is made with paneer and khoya. Paneer is unripened cottage cheese while khoya is the solid part of milk made by cooking milk for a long time and vapourising its water content.I googled for the recipe and found the traditional method quite easy. I decided to make it that way though it is a bit time consuming. If you want to try an easier version there are a lot going on in various blogs, using Ricotta cheese and butter. Try this for a begining, from Mamta's kitchen.
This is how you make it the traditional way...

Kalakand

Things you need

Whole milk - 1 ltr
Home made paneer - 500 gm
Sugar - ½ cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Chopped nuts (Almond & pistachio) - ½ cup
Butter / Ghee (for greasing)

Method:

• Make home made paneer: Boil 2 ltrs of whole milk and add half a teaspoon of lemon juice or citric acid dissolved in 15 ml of warm water. Reduce heat to medium and stir continuously until the whole milk is curdled and the whey separeted. Remove from heat and seive through a clean muslin clothe.Squeeze out the whey after running it over pure water. Hang the cloth containing the paneer for 10 to 15 minutes until all the water has gone.
• Mash the home made paneer with your hands.
• Boil milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and add the mashed paneer and keep stirring. Reduce the heat to medium and stir till the water evapourates and the mixture thickens.
• Add sugar and cardamom powder and mix well.Keep stirring. When it is a semisolid mixture, remove from heat.
• Take a plate or tray and grease with butter or ghee. Spread this semisolid mixture over it. Springle c hopped nuts on top of it.
• Cut into square pieces when cool. Serve.

Paneer Mutter Masala(Paneer & Green peas in creamy sauce)

 

  
   I first tasted this dish from my sisters home. She had prepared it very rich with thick cream and spices. Those days I didn't even know the basics of cooking and had wondered "Wow! hats off to Indian cooks!! They have no difficulty even in taming a breakfast category pretty cheese into a spice laden dinner curry." Later, when I started cooking myself and was crawling towards each milestones, I thought of giving Paneer a try.

       Well, I have changed the recipe a little bit, I mean less rich ... because I have always hated the taste of milk, my mom says, even from the infant days. So to avoid the milky taste from seeping into the dish, I replaced the thick cream with low fat milk.

Paneer Mutter Masala 

   Serves 4 to 6

You will need:

2 cups paneer or cottage cheese (Cut into small cubes)

1 cup green peas

1 cup water

2 medium sized onions

1 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

3 tbsp tomato paste

half cup low fat milk

25 grams cashew nuts (soaked for an hour)

3/4 tsp garam masala powder

1/4 tsp fennel seeds powdered

1/4 tsp kaasoori methi powder (dried fenugreek leaves)

2 tbsp butter

salt to taste

coriander leaves for garnishing

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp sugar

Method of Preparation

1) Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions and saute, until they become tender. Remove from pan and grind it well with soaked cashew nuts to form a fine paste.

2) Add butter to a wok and heat. Add minced ginger and garlic to it. When the aroma of ginger and garlic comes out, lower the flame and add  red chilly powder. Then add tomato paste or tomato puree and saute.

3) Then add one cup of water and green peas (cook it in a medium flame by covering the wok).

4) When it is cooked well, add the ground onion-cashew paste, fennel seed powder, garam masala powder, kasoori methi powder, salt and paneer cubes to it. And cook for 5 minutes. You can add paneer cubes either fried in little oil or as such.

5) Finally add milk and sugar to it and switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves.

6) Serve hot with bread or chapattis.