Instant Ricotta Cheese Kalakand – A delicious Indian milk sweet/fudge/barfi/cake prepared with Ricotta cheese in the microwave. A five-ingredient recipe made in less than five minutes. Check out the detailed recipe of this microwave kalakand with ricotta cheese below.
Diwali without a ricotta cheese sweet is incomplete in our household. I love to make sweets with ricotta cheese. It was ricotta cheese rasamalai in 2016 and Sandesh in 2017 and now Kalakand in 2018. I have one more coming up on Friday so stay tuned.
Traditionally Kalakand is prepared with paneer, especially homemade well-kneaded paneer. But if you want to speed up the process and make a quick kalakhand, then ricotta cheese is the best bet. You can read about ricotta cheese on my rasmalai post. It is readily available in all the grocery stores here in the US.
Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese or Whole Ricotta Cheese:
When it comes to kalakand, you can use either part-skim or whole-milk ricotta. I tried this recipe initially with part-skim ricotta, and we loved it. Whole ricotta cheese, of course, is going to make the sweet richer and delicious. For this recipe today, I went with whole-milk ricotta cheese. The cooking time is the same for both the cheese variety.
Kalakand Cooking Time:
As we are making this in the microwave the cooking time might vary depending upon the microwave settings. But it should not take more than 5 minutes to make this recipe. It took me 3 minutes and 30 seconds to get that grainy/granular consistency. Yes, that’s the consistency we want for the kalakand. We need to cook the cheese mix until we attain that consistency. Make sure you stir the mix for every one minute and after 3 minutes cook and stir for every 30 seconds and once the cheese mix is thick and granular, stop microwaving. Once you know your microwave setting, this recipe is a breeze. You can cook the cheese mix on stove-top as well. Cook over medium heat until you get the granular consistency. Kalakand needs to set before slicing; please plan your cooking time accordingly.
Now without any further delay, here is the instant microwave kalakand recipe and the detailed video,
Ingredients:
- Ricotta Cheese – ½ cup
- Condensed Milk – ¼ cup
- Cardamom Powder – ⅛ tsp
- Ghee for greasing
- Almonds – 5
- Deshelled Pistachios – 5
Prep – work:
- Crush the almonds and pistachios or pulse them in a mixer jar into a coarse powder.
Steps:
- Take half cup of ricotta cheese and condensed milk and elaichi powder in a microwave-safe bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Microwave it for one minute. Remove it from the microwave and mix it.
- Then microwave again for one minute and remove it from the microwave and mix it well.
- Now microwave it again for 1 minute and remove it. (While trying it for the first time, I cooked for 4 minutes and felt the kalakand to be slightly hard. So went with this timing) The cheese condensed milk mix will slowly thicken and will slightly grainy. Mix again.
- Microwave this for 30 seconds more or for 1 minute. After this, the cheese will be grainier and thick than the previous stage.
- Now transfer this to a ghee coated tray/vessel and garnish it with the crushed pistachios and almonds.
- Let it sit for 15 minutes and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I allowed it to chill for 2.5 hours.
- Now cut into your favorite shapes and serve chilled with more nuts.
Notes
- Make sure you keep stirring the mix for every one minute and don’t let the cheese stick to the bottom.
- Adjust condensed milk as per your preference. Also, keep in mind that ricotta cheese is mildly sweet.
- Instead of cardamom powder, you can use rose syrup or saffron soaked milk for other flavors.
- Depending on the quantity and microwave setting, the cooking time might vary. Make sure you stir the mix for every one minute and cook until the cheese becomes granular. That’s the right stage.
- If you are using a small tray, slice the kalakand carefully.
📖 Recipe
Instant Ricotta Cheese Kalakand | Microwave Kalakand Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
- ¼ cup Condensed Milk
- ⅛ tsp Cardamom Powder
- 1 tsp Ghee for greasing
- 5 Almonds
- 5 Deshelled Pistachios
Instructions
Prep – work:
- Crush the almonds and pistachios or pulse them in a mixer jar into a coarse powder.
Steps:
- Take half cup of ricotta cheese and condensed milk and elaichi powder in a microwave-safe bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Microwave it for one minute. Remove it from the microwave and mix it.
- Then microwave again for one minute and remove it from the microwave and mix it well.
- Now microwave it again for 1 minute and remove it. (While trying it for the first time, I cooked for 4 minutes and felt the kalakand to be slightly hard. So went with this timing) The cheese condensed milk mix will slowly thicken and will slightly grainy. Mix again.
- Microwave this for 30 seconds more or for 1 minute. After this, the cheese will be grainier and thick than the previous stage.
- Now transfer this to a ghee coated tray/vessel and garnish it with the crushed pistachios and almonds.
- Let it sit for 15 minutes and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I allowed it to chill for 2.5 hours.
- Now cut into your favorite shapes and serve chilled with more nuts
Video
Notes
- Make sure you keep stirring the mix for every one minute and don’t let the cheese stick to the bottom.
- Adjust condensed milk as per your preference. But keep in mind that ricotta cheese is mildly sweet.
- Instead of cardamom powder, you can use rose syrup or saffron soaked milk for other flavors.
- Depending on the quantity and microwave setting, the cooking time might vary. Make sure you stir the mix for every one minute and cook until the cheese becomes granular. That’s the right stage.
- If you are using a small tray, slice the kalakand carefully.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Super easy and always a hit !!! I had been making this recipe for several years now. I use 1.5 lb of ricotta cheese for a can of milkmaid which is the right kind of sweetness for me. Keep cooking till I reach the desired consistency. Thank you !!!
Thanks so much
Hi. I tried to make this recipe today. After the 3rd minute, water separated from the mixture.. why must that be? The mixture didn’t dry up completely like yours.
Sorry it didn’t come out well. I am not sure about the MW power level. If it’s low, you might have to cook for few more minutes, also did you use low- fat ricotta?
Love your easy recipe. Have made it a few times & always a hit!
Love that it’s just a few ingredients & few easy steps
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks a lot. Glad you liked it. :-)
Can I use readymade paneer? Its harder than homemade paneer
That’s why I used ricotta cheese.
Can I use the readymade govardan paneer? How much is half cup in gms?
Sorry, I haven’t tested this recipe with Paneer. I need to check the measurements and I will share the recipe.
Hi, can i use philadelphia cream cheese instead of ricotta.
Thanks
Sorry, it won’t work. You need ricotta cheese or paneer.
Hello, do you strain the water out of the ricotta cheese before using it?
No for kalakand I did not. For the steamed sandesh I did. You can strain the water out and it helps to get the consistency faster. I hope it helps. Thanks
Hi,
Loved your recipe. Will definitely try making it so please let me know what can substitute with recotta cheese.
You can try with crumbled paneer mixed with milk.
Hi,
I want to make this recipe with a full can of condensed milk. How many Total minutes do you think I need to microwave?
Thanks,
Seema
It depends upon the power of the microwave. It shouldn’t take more than 6 minutes. Check for the grainy consistency, that’s the key.
Tried making it today. I doubled the recipe and may be that is why cooking took almost twice the time. It is very delicious. Thank you.
Thanks a lot. I am super glad it worked out well.