Peda

Peda is a type of Indian sweet made in many parts of the country using milk and sugar as basic ingredients. They can be creamy white in colour and also slightly brown, which happens when the milk solids get caramelised when they are cooked with sugar. Some prefer to add the sugar in the end because of which the peda looks light in colour. You can also add saffron to get a beautiful orange hue. I made this on Janmashtami last year and used a few drops of yellow food colouring to get the desired shade. But no matter how it looks, pedas taste delicious! You can either make ‘Khoya’ or milk solids yourself or use condensed milk for quick results. Pedas are a little soft initially when the sweet nearly melts in your mouth, and if you let it set for a couple of hours they became like semi-soft candies. They can be stored easily too, outside or in the fridge, although they usually don’t last so long as we eat them up two-three at a time!

Prep Time: 10 min Cooking Time: 20-25 min Makes: 20


Ingredients:

Milk: 6 cups
Vinegar: 4 Tbsp
Unsalted butter or desi ghee: 3 tbsp
Milk powder: 6 tbsp
Lukewarm milk: 1/3rd cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Cardamom powder: A pinch
Yellow food colour: 3 drops (optional)
Almonds/Pista: 4 tbsp (for garnishing)

Method:

1) First we need to make the paneer. Bring the milk to a rolling boil and reduce the flame to low. Add the vinegar and stir. The whey will start to separate in a few minutes.

2) Collect the paneer or cheese and wash it gently in cold water to get rid of the vinegar taste. Hang it in a cheese cloth to drain all the water. You should get 3/4th to 1 cup paneer. Whole milk may give slightly more.

3) Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan and add milk powder and the lukewarm milk to it. Stir continuously. Now add the paneer.

4) Keep stirring till the mixture thickens and add sugar, food colour and cardamom powder. Mix thoroughly and it will soon become thick and pliable.

5) Grease your palms with some ghee or butter and start shaping it into small flat balls. This way the pedas won’t stick to your hands.

6) For garnishing, you can stick some finely chopped almonds or pista on the centre of the peda, which makes it look pretty and adds flavour.

Note: You can also add cashew or almond paste to get Cashew/Kaju Peda and Almond/Badam Peda. Just reduce the amount of milk powder by 2 tbsp and the amount of cashew or almond paste can be adjusted according to taste.