apple kalakand for diwali | how to stay away from sugared desserts and sweets during festive season
Make some apple kalakand. All sorts of milky burfis, pedas, milk cakes and kalakands are gifted and consumed during diwali along with more sweets made of refined flour, lentil flours and loads of sugar. Sugar is the bonding factor it seems. Is there a way to skip sugar this diwali? Make an instant apple kalakand that gets ready in 20 minutes flat. Including the time you take to get your apple from the fruit basket, grate it and cook it. Read on if you don't believe me. It is a microwave recipe but one can cook the mixture in a pan for just about 5 minutes to get the same result.
This apple kalakand is one of those sweets that would taste as granular as the 'bikanerwala' kalakand and almost as sweet. Kalakand is normally a mildly sugared sweet so apple works really well. There is a hint of apples in it if you know as you may miss that apple sweetness if you eat this kalakand in one go. I used Golden Delicious apples from our own land. Local and seasonal apples taste way better than those shiny Red Delicious and Fuji.
And there are only 2 ingredients in this kalakand, apple and milk powder. You can use skim milk powder or low fat, the result wouldn't change much. Pistachios are used for garnish that you can skip if you wish. I used cinnamon for flavoring, use cardamom if you wish or just skip that too.
What more to ask for if you got just the weekend to celebrate diwali. Light up your home with candles and diyas, you would still have enough time to cook apple kalakand. Make a larger batch and gift them too if you wish.
ingredients
( I made just for the two of us, this recipe made 9 regular sized kalakand)
one large apple or 2 small apples (Golden Delicious would be better) weighing about 200 gm
milk powder 150 gm
cinnamon powder 2 pinches (optional)
pistachios for garnish (optional)
procedure
Peel and grate the apple. The grated apples should weigh about 180 gm. Place it into a microwave safe bowl which has about 2 inches margin from the mixture. The mil mixture fluffs up while microwaving and can spill inside the microwave if the bowl is smaller.
Now add the milk powder and mix the two. The juice in the grated apple is enough to make a slurry when mixed with milk powder. Add cinnamon powder if using.
Further cooking will be almost like making khoya in microwave using milk powder.
Microwave the mixture for a minute on high. It will fluff up and will be about to spill when you take out the bowl and stir the mixture with a spoon. Microwave again for 30 seconds, stir again and repeat the process for 3-4 times till it looks granular and comes together like a sticky mass. Just about 3 minutes of cooking time total.
Spread the mixture quickly into a shallow plate of suitable size keeping the margins straight. Sprinkle chopped pistachios and press them into the spread mixture. Let it cool for an hour or so. Cut in squares and place the kalakands on a butter paper sheet for convenience. I have cut the butter paper sheet in small squares so one can lift the apple kalakand easily.
It gets firm when cold. The taste is perfectly sweet for us and I got good feedback from others as well. So do not add any sugar to this kalakand as this would make it too sweet for your own comfort.
Perfectly granular, the mild acidity in the apple helps in bringing a nice granular texture in this kalakand. Cinnamon is not too prominent and I use it just to make the milky aroma get a bit lighter. I don't like reduced milk sweets too much myself so this bit of spicing up the kalakand is good for me. Skip cinnamon if you wish and add cardamom instead.
Let diwali be stress free for your system, don't worry about the kilo you pile on every festive season that comes by. Eat smarter, do not compromise on taste.
Do let me know if you make this apple kalakand for yourself. I know a few of you were already waiting for it, happy diwali to you all :-)
Say NO to firecrackers. Natural living is healthier for the planet as well.
awesome kalakand with lovely clicks.
ReplyDeletebeautiful recipe. will try this.
ReplyDeleteLove all the recipes you share Sangeeta! Please add more healthy recipes like this!
ReplyDeleteWishing You & Your Family Happy Diwali!
Love,
Seema
Thanks Seems. Please check the sugar free Sweet potato rabdi that I posted recently. Will try and post more such healthy recipes, so glad you are liking them.
DeleteMicrowave again for 30 minutes .....(?).....There seems a typo, which gets clarified in the line that follows it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out the 30 minutes. Just corrected that to be 30 seconds :-)
Deletelovely kalakand... and lovely parijat flowers
ReplyDeleteSangeeta, saw this recipe when Diwali is over! :(
ReplyDeleteBut I am definitely gonna try this. Can you please tell me how to make it on the stove? Don't have the microwave.
Thanks! And happy diwali :)
Cook the mixture in a nonstick pan for about 5 minutes (this quantity) Naina and let the mixture get a bit granular and dry. Take care not to brown it. I have always made it in MW so can't tell exact timings etc for pan cooking.
DeleteDo let me know when you try. Good luck :-)
Thanks..that;s lovely. Do you have the same recipe for non microwave but cooking gas?
ReplyDeleteThanks. Just cook the mixture for five minutes in a pan as suggested above.
DeleteThis is really simple and I am absolutely dying to make it. Just one question, I have some leftover milkmaid. Can I use it in place of milk powder? Of course, it is sweet.
ReplyDeleteUsing milkmaid will defeat the purpose of making it sugar free Rachna. And milkmaid would result into the granular texture that is characteristic of kalakand too, would also be too sweet to handle. Milkmaid is used for recipes where it's sweetness is diluted, not intensified, here we would need to dehydrate the condensed milk if using.
DeleteDON'T USE CONDENSED MILK PLEASE.
I mean milkmaid would NOT result in granular texture.
DeleteOkay Thanks! I thought as much but still thought of confirming with you.
DeleteIt was just amazing and I'm glad I tried it yesterday itself. It was so nice that I only have a picture of the last piece left in the bowl. I'll make it again shortly and this time I'll make sure that before hubby and kids pounce upon it, I'll have it clicked and share it on my wall with a link to your recipe. Thank you so much for making a lazy duck like me want to make this tasty treat. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback Rekha. I am so glad you all liked this recipe :-)
DeleteWill be super glad if you share the recipe link to your wall too , make it again and again, it's such a wonderful easy recipe :-)
Hi Sangeeta is there another substitute for milk powder?
DeleteThere is no substitute to milk powder I am afraid Pooja. You can use khoya if you wish but the texture of kalakand wouldn't be the same.
DeleteThis is so very easy and looks delicious as well. Let me try them soonest. Thanks dear Sangeeta for such delectable healthy recipes which we can consume without any fear of adding sugar to our system.
ReplyDeleteThat was the idea Susan :-)
DeleteWow! What an idea! The sourness of the apple curdles the milk and creates a granular texture and the natural sweetness of apple lends it just the right amount of sweetness!
ReplyDeleteI must try it - and thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! :)
Welcome to Healthfood desivideshi Shruti. Glad you liked the recipe :-)
DeleteI haven't seen a simpler recipe for a sweet than this one. Will definitely try it.
ReplyDeleteGood for diabetic people as well. :-)
Thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked it Nisha. Nice to meet you :-)
DeleteAwesome it is!!!! Those flowers make me so nostalgic!!!
ReplyDeleteLoved the recipe. This will be the first one that I will try in my microwave. Thanks for the share :)
ReplyDeletewow. Great recipe Sangeeta. Definitely going to try this one. Love the mood created in the first photograph.
ReplyDeleteSaw this on Suranga's page and made it just now. I can't believe how good it tastes !!! Thank you for sharing ...its something thats going to be a regular feature in my house !
ReplyDeleteWOwwww.. Very beautiful and stunning captures.. thanks for the wonderful recipe dear.. great job :D
ReplyDeleteSounds healthy and delicious! I would love to try this out at home. However, I have an OTG and not a microwave. How do I make it in an OTG? Could you please guide me?
ReplyDeleteWow looks n sounds awesome
ReplyDeletecan khoa be used instead of milk powder? if so would it be the same method of preparation?
ReplyDeletei got my reply from an earlier thread. thanks.
ReplyDeleteYes this recipe of Apple kalakand is developed for convenience and milk powder and apple cannot be substituted.
Delete