With festivities kicking in, sweets and desserts are a must now! Diwali gatherings and parties call for delicious homemade sweets that will woo the guests away! How about custard apple kalakand? With the goodness of these fruits, enjoy the festivities with an extra twist! The edible fruit of Annona squamosa, the most frequently cultivated species of Annona and a native of tropical climates in the Americas and West Indies, is the sugar apple or sweet-sop. It was transported to Asia by Spanish merchants on board Manila galleons that were berthed in the Philippines. The flesh is creamy white to light yellow, sweet-smelling, and has a custard-like flavour. It is discovered attaching to individual segments of seeds that are 13 to 16 millimetres (12 to 58 mm) long and organised in a single layer around a conical core. It is slick, silky, and has a light grain. Although certain fruit kinds are nearly seedless, the firm, lustrous seeds can range in quantity from 20 to 40 or more per fruit and have a brown to black covering.
Ingredients
1. 2-litre milk
2. 2 tsp lemon juice
3. 2 tsp sugar
4. 1/2 cup cardamom, powdered
5. 1 tsp custard apple pulp
6. 1 cup ghee
7. 1/2 cup pistachios
8. 5 - 6 almonds, slivered
9. Silver foil (optional)
Method
1. Milk is divided between two pans. Heat the milk in one pan until it has been reduced by half, then heat the milk in the second pan until it is boiling.
2. Turn down the heat after the milk reaches a boil, add the lemon juice, and stir until the milk curdles.
3. Drain the milk into a cotton cloth and then turn off the gas. Drain all of the whey from the paneer by bringing the cloth's sides together.
4. To get rid of all traces of lemon, wash the fabric in fresh water.
5. When the milk has been cut in half, add this paneer to the second pan and heat until the mixture begins to pull away from the pan's sides.
6. Spread the ingredients out equally on a plate that has been greased with ghee.
7. Let the kalakand set before adding the silver foil and pistachio slivers as a garnish.
8. After setting, slice into small pieces. For two to three days in the refrigerator, it can be kept in an airtight container.