Milk cakes from the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles

This recipe for milk cake or kalakand is from the book Bengali Five Spice Chronicles.  My family enjoyed the flavour of this delicious dessert, which as the author mentions is a cross between cheesecake and milk fudge.  
1 can (14oz) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup milk powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter + 1/2 tbsp for greasing the dish
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3 tbsp coarsely chopped pistachios


Put the evaporated milk, ricotta cheese in a pan and bring to a simmer.  Continue cooking the mixture on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring it frequently until the mixture thickens considerably.

Add the milk powder, sugar and continue cooking until the mixture has a soft fudge-like consistency for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Mix in the 2 tbsp ghee and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
Grease an 8" or 9" dish and pour the cheese mixture.  Sprinkle the cardamom powder and pistachios over the mixture and let it cool.  I left it in the fridge to solidify before cutting the cake into 2" squares, we can also cut into any desired shape before serving it cool.
This book Bengali Five Spice Chronicles is written by Rinku Bhattacharya.  The book explores the cuisine of Eastern India and has over 180 recipes that are seperated into 13 parts such as rice & breads, lentil, vegetarian, egg dishes, fish, poultry, chutneys, drinks, snacks, sweets etc.  The book is full of delicious recipes and there are a few pictures of the dishes in the middle of the book. 
I like the explanations given by the author about different spices/seeds.  I also liked reading about the author and her influences that led to write this book.  

I find it interesting to read about other cultures and traditions, so I enjoyed reading the history of Bengali cuisine in the beginning of the book.  I thought it was interesting that Bengalis eat rice with different vegetables and then eat non-vegetarian food such as fish in the end, because we tend to eat it together or in the opposite way by eating non-veg first then with rice and vegetables :) 


Giveaway:
If you are in Canada or US and would like to win a copy of this book Bengali Five Spice Chronicles please enter through the rafflecopter below before December 15th.
Update: The winner is Tina


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35 comments:

  1. I am in Canada...we love all types of food in Indian cuisine..on of our favorites is Chicken 65!

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  2. Feel like having few scoops from that droolworthy milk cake, one of my fav bengali sweet. Lovely review about the book.

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  3. I'm in BC, and I love all Indian food (at least everything I've tried so far!)

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  4. We are in Canada and we love butter chicken.

    Narathip wall
    polo_wataga at yahoo dot com

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  5. I have heard of kalakand before but never tried it, it looks delicious!

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  6. I am in US. This is my favorite sweet from east india. low in sugar and high in flavor.

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  7. I'm in the USA, Hmm...I do not think I've ever tried Indian food?

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  8. I have to save the recipe and try it :) I just tried the one from the store..I am sure home made is su much better!

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  9. I am a fan of bengali sweets....Lovely milk cake.

    For technical reasons, I'm no longer posting at http://akshaypatrerecipes.blogspot.in.

    This is my new blog adress
    http://vidyaasrecipes.blogspot.in/

    Happy to follow you. I hope you'll follow me back.

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  10. The recipes sounds delicious, good for the holidays.

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  11. Hi Akheela, your milk cakes look interesting. :)

    Have a lovely day.

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  12. Love this milk cake...super yummm post!!!

    http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/

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  13. I'm in Canada, and my favourite disk is tikka masala

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  14. I'm in the States, and i love almost allllll desi sweets :D

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  15. wow superb dessert...love the flavours

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  16. vl try this recipe.nice cliks
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  17. Ooooh Canada! I love Curries. I actually live off of them.

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  18. I'm in Canada. I love butter chicken and curried lentils

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  19. I am in Canada and I have tried butter chicken before but we find Indian cuisine very spicy so we make it at home and use less of the hot spices.

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  20. I have been getting really into Indian food lately, I love the huge variety- so much tastiness!! (I am in the US) :)

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  21. I tried it and it was actually pretty soft. Is that how it should be? I cooked it even longer..still it turned out soft and almost impossible to cut and divide :/

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    Replies
    1. It is actually soft, but after keeping in the fridge it gets a little more firm. I served it in small dishes like pudding.

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    2. The author of the book suggested that the mixture needs to be cooked a little longer to become fairly thick so it will be firm.

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  22. "...a cross between cheesecake and milk fudge." Yum! Kalakand is readily available in a sweet shop close to where I live, and the husband frequents the place (he's the one with the sweet tooth)but I'm sure he'd be pleasantly surprised if I made this at home! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    By the way, a friend of mine made apple kalakand. She used paneer or cottage cheese. It was really good.

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  23. I'm from US and I'm new to Indian food so I can't really comment on what's my fav. Me and my BF go to an Indian restaurant whenever we can, and they have amazing Na'an bread and I do love anything that has potatoes!!

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  24. I'm in Canada - and I love Pak-Indian food. The flavours are amazing. I also like Hakka-Indian food. The mix of Chinese and Indian results in some amazing dished. We are having chicken korma for dinner tonight!

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Thank you for commenting :)