RAJASTHANI KALAKAND

                         

Rajasthani kalakand, also known as Alwar ka mawa, is an authentic Rajasthani sweet made by solidifying reduced milk and milk chenna (fresh paneer) with sugar and nuts. It was discovered by Baba Thakur Das in 1947 at Alwar (as per wikipedia). There is also a store called 'Baba Thakur Das & sons' in Alwar. In fact, the place where the store is situated is called 'Kalakand Market Road'!!


                           I was in Alwar for a couple of years during which i got to experience this otherwise less known city. If you happen to visit rural areas of this state and you are lucky enough, one can see peacock dance and Neelgais. Children here love to roam in the semi-jungle areas just to collect junglee karelas (Wild Bitter Gourd) and ber fruit (Jujube or Indian plum in English and Elandha pazham in Tamil). The junglee karele ki sabzi is made for rotis here and is a mouth watering dish, you won't know it is made with a bitter gourd variety! The main ingredient in their cooking is milk, ghee and curd.
                          The highlights of Rajasthan are of course, mirror worked  Rajasthani ghagras and lac (lacquer) bangles!! Lac jewelry originated from this place and is still special among Indian women. The colors of these lac jewelry are just amazing, mostly being yellow, red and green (at least this is my favorite combo!). These colors are said to even carry meanings and are worn accordingly. The various works done on these jewelry is its beauty, prominently mirror and stone work. There are also mirror embedded sindoor dabbas, you find them outside almost all tourist spots. Coming to the clothes, bandhani works dominate the outfits followed by mirror works again..
                        And the list doesn't end there.... The list follows Kota sarees (especially the handloom variety, and sarees with kundan stones), Camel rides, Ghewar, Kachoris, Gatte ki sabzi, Dal Baatti Churma, malai kulfis, road side shopping and of course the numerous palaces.....  I would write an essay on this!

A bit of history on kalakand: an extract from an article in 'The Hindu '(Full article here):
                 "The story is recounted to me by Abhishek who manages the shop with his father, while his younger brother Ashish and an uncle man the shop. Abhishek Taneja says, “Then the sweet was made on the footpath. When Dadaji put the milk to boil, it curdled. He let it thicken and filled the thickened sweet in a mould. When it was opened, it emerged with a delicious brown centre. When people asked Babaji what it was, he said, ‘yehi to kala hai’, meaning that is the skill. From that time onwards the sweet came to be called Kalakand.”   "

RAJASTHANI KALAKAND RECIPE

Cuisine - Rajasthani

Category - Dessert

Yields - about 20 nos.
Recipe reference - sharmispassion

INGREDIENTS
Milk - 4 cups + 4 cups
Lemon juice - 2 tablespoon
Sugar - 1/2 cup (do increase if you are sweet toothed!!)
Vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon
Ghee - 1 teaspoon

FOR GARNISHING
Almonds (sliced) - a few
Pistachio (sliced) - a few

METHOD
1. Bring 4 cups of milk to boil in a heavy bottomed pan and add lemon juice to it. Let it curdle and keep boiling till the chenna/ paneer separates out.
2. Hang the chenna in a muslin cloth or a kitchen towel. You can hang it above your kitchen sink. Drain off all the water. Wash the chenna in running water to remove the smell of lime.
3. Bring another 4 cups of milk to boil in a heavy bottomed pan. Lower the flame and let it reduce. Wait till it becomes semi solid.
4. Now add the chenna, sugar and vanilla essence and continue cooking till it starts to leave the sides of the pan.
5. Grease a plate and transfer the cooked kalakand to the plate. Drizzle in the almonds and pistachios and press it gently.
6. Allow it to cool and cut them into squares. Yummy kalakand on your plate!!
7. Store in air tight containers in refrigerator and consume within a week.