Mama’s Punjabi Recipes: Milk Cake (Milk Fudge)

Recipe-in-1

Though this dish is called Milk Cake, the label is only half true. It is, of course, made with lots of milk, but it is not made like a cake. That part of the name refers to the way the sweet dish is set for upto 24 hours before being finally presented and sliced. The texture of milk cake is dense, grainy and hard, which is not found in any other Indian confectionary and this explains why it is widely popular in north India, where it originated in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

This dish is sometimes called malai burfi (creamy fudge) and sometimes is confused with kalakand which is creamier, less dense and white. Milk cake is normally slightly brown and the traditional recipe is made with milk, sugar and butter or ghee (each of which gives it a different taste). It is often made and served at festivals and special occasions but these days is available all year round at the confectioner’s shops where the cut pieces – sometimes embellished with cut nuts – are displayed on silver platters.

The traditional recipes start with a pot full of milk that is slowly evaporated over the stove, while it is stirred constantly so that the milk does not get brown at the base. This method requires a lot of patience and stamina to stand beside a hot stove for 60 to 90 minutes and stir the milk till it is curdled. As less people have such spare time, the recipe I am presenting is a much simpler and faster one to make since it is made in a microwave, not on the stove.

Naturally, as with other Indian sweet dishes, milk cake is very rich in calories and is very heavy to digest, so it is best not to eat too much of it at one sitting. You could make it with lowfat cream or milk, but there will be a difference in the taste too.

 

Ingredients:
• 1 can (14 oz) Sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cup Powdered milk
• 1 stick Unsalted butter

 

Directions:
1. Open the can of condensed milk and pour it a microwaveable medium-sized flat-bottom cake dish.
2. Pour in the powdered milk and butter and mix well with a wisk. Spread the mixture across the dish.
3. Place the dish in the microwave and heat for 2 minutes on high.
4. As the dish will be hot, leave it in the microwave, but mix the ingredients well with a fork so that they do not puff up and boil over.
5. When the mixture has cooled and the puffiness is reduced, then close the microwave and start up for 2 minutes again on high.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 again and heat in the microwave a third time.
7. After the third time, repeat step 4.
8. Now let the mixture cool down uncovered for an hour.
9. When it is cool to touch and hardened, cut the milk cake into rectangular pieces.
10. Place the pieces on a plate and serve.

 

MAMA’S TIP OF THE WEEK: FOR HOT AND CRISPIER LEFTOVER PIZZA, USE THE TAVA!

One of the most favorite meals for many people, young and old, is pizza of any type. It is a dish that is now available all around the world in so many styles, ingredients and flavors, many with distinctive tastes of the city and country they are in. In Hawaii you can get pineapple as an ingredient, in India, tandoori chicken and in China tofu with Schezwan chicken.

But there is always leftover pizza which is stored in the fridge afterwards. Usually people take a slice or two out and heat them in the microwave, but this makes the pizza limp and not as tasty. For tastier and crispier pizza, just place the pieces on a hot tava (flatplate) and heat for a few minutes. You’ll love the difference!

 

mamas recipe inside3
Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur (since renamed Faisalabad), India before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her mid-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share some of her delectable Punjabi recipes