Pumpkin Kalakand was made to celebrate my birthday last month. I also made an amazing cheesecake for myself. We don’t celebrate birthdays anymore, but I always like to make something special for my birthday so that I can enjoy those treats.
Kalakand is one of my favourite milk sweets. I have made a traditional recipe as well as an easy recipe earlier. This recipe is a twist to the easy version of kalakand. Check out my Kalakand 1 and Kalakand 2 (click on the name for recipe) These two are old posts, but the recipes are so good. So even if they don’t have impressive photos, they still make amazing kalakand at the end.
I used my easy version of kalakand and added some pumpkin puree to it. This is a really quick version and gets ready in ten minutes. But you need to wait until it cools down completely so that you can slice it perfectly.
Pumpkin Kalakand Recipe – How to make Pumpkin Puree
To make pumpkin puree to make the Pumpkin kalakand recipe, you need wedges of pumpkin. There are so many ways you can puree pumpkin, I will explain the ways I use.
1st method – Baking:
Remove the seeds of the pumpkin, wrap the wedges in aluminium foil and bake in 200C oven until the pumpkin feels soft to poke with a fork. Cool, remove the flesh, discard skin and grind it to a fine puree.
2nd method – Stove top method:
Peel the pumpkin, discard skin and seeds and cube them. Add very little water in a saucepan, add the cubes, cover and cook until the cubes are soft and mushy. Be careful while adding water, just one or two tbs is enough. If needed add a tbs extra later. Cool and grind it to fine puree and use for recipes.
As usual, I made a small video for my Instagram IGTv. Please check it out if you like visual learning. Also don’t forget to follow me on Instagram.
I recently bought slivered pistachios and dried rose petals and they are really handy when making such recipes. It feels like a huge task to sliver nuts. When you have a ready to go pack, it saves a lot of time. I just keep it refrigerated and use it whenever I need.
Because of the pumpkin puree added, this kalakand is extremely soft. I also used my malai paneer, which also added to the softness. Check my paneer recipe if you are interested. If you try this, let me know through messages in FB or insta. Or leave me a comment here in the blog. I would be really delighted to hear your thoughts on this.
Pumpkin Kalakand Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 gm Malai Paneer
- 250 gm Pumpkin Puree
- 200 ml Condensed Milk
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
- 1 tbs Ghee
- Pistachios and Rose Petals For Topping
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add paneer, pumpkin puree, condensed milk and cardamom powder.
- Mash the paneer well and make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Place the pan on medium heat and cook the mixture until it starts leaving the sides.
- Add ghee in between and keep stirring until the mix is thick and leaves the sides of the pan.
- Transfer to a greased 5” square tray and level the top.
- Garnish with pistachios and rose petals.
- When it is completely cool, slice it and store in air tight box in fridge.
