Preparations:

Remove seeds from cardamom pods and make a fine powder. Take a square cake tin and smear ghee to the inside of the tin. Apply butter paper inside the cake tin. Smear ghee on the butter paper also. Crumble paneer and grate in a mixer grinder. Take care to retain the grainy texture of the paneer—for this do not grind the paneer to a paste. Add hot water top pistachios and soak them for few minutes. Then take out the skins of pistachios and chop them to small pieces.

Method:

Take a thick bottomed pan and heat it. Add grated paneer, milk powder and sweetened condensed milk. Mix well and cook stirring on low flame. Keep stirring otherwise the mixture will get burnt at the bottom of the pan. After few minutes the mixture starts thickening. Cook for few minutes and then add the cardamom powder and mix well. Then transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin and spread evenly with the ladle. The surface may be smoothened with a wet spoon. Dip a spoon in water and rub it on the mixture. Cool the kalakand for a while and cut into desired shapes. Hold the butterpaper and remove the kalakand from the cake tin. Then separate the pieces and arrange them in a plate. Garnish the kalakand pieces with chopped pistachios and serve. To make kalakand in different shapes use cookie cutters. Make a ball of kalakand and flatten it on a plate. Then press the cookie cutter and remove the excess portions and lift the cookie cutter gently to get attractive shapes of the kalakand. Make few more pieces similarly and garnish them with chopped pistachios. Like this, make different shaped kalakand and garnish them with chopped pistachio nuts. Presentation brings a lot of change and makes the same dish look more attractive. To make the dish more attractive place the kalakand balls or pedas in designer terracotta moulds. Serve this sweet dish during festivals or make it for parties and present it attractively.

Points to Notice:

Using sweetened condensed milk eases making this dish. If we have to make it traditionally, milk has to be boiled and then reduced. Sweetened condensed milk is a better option to save time.

Remember to retain the grainy texture of paneer while grinding.

I have used a cake tin to get all square pieces from the kalakand. Kalakand is a soft dish. So I have used butter paper to remove the pieces from the cake tin easily.

Soaking the pistachios in water/hot water for few minutes peels the skin easily.

Use fresh homemade paneer for better taste. As old paneer becomes sour soon and there will be difference in taste.

Use a thick bottomed pan so that the condensed milk will not get burnt fast. And also keep stirring the mixture while cooking so that the mixture will not get burnt. As there is very little moisture content in the condensed milk and paneer the mixture needs attention while cooking.