Peda | Pedha | Penda | Pera is basically an Indian milk fudge, prepared from mawa/khoya ( milk solids) and sugar, mostly flavored with cardamom. There are so many different kinds of peda such as doodh peda, malai peda, chocolate peda, mango peda, mawa peda, Mathura peda, dharwad peda, so forth and so on. Basically, you can add your own flavors and make your own unique flavored peda. Today, I’d like to share one of my favorites- Kesar peda.
I can never get enough of these. If I eat one, I know I’m going to gobble up more. They are so addictive and my big sweet tooth can never get enough of these Indian milk sweets like kheer, carrot halwa, milk cake, faluda, milk toffee etc. Seriously yum!! Peda is often prepared during various festivals in India like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, and the likes, on auspicious occasions, during weddings, and sometimes these sweet treats are distributed to family, friends, and neighbors by kid’s parents upon achieving success and reaching milestones in school/college or upon the birth of a newborn. It is simply a really nice and sweet gesture of sharing your happiness with everyone.
Most Indian sweets use khoya/mawa as the core ingredient. Making mawa at home the traditional way is a rather lengthy and painstaking procedure. There are many ways of making it in a few minutes using the microwave. You could easily find a lot of quick recipes on the web to make mawa the easier way. I simply used this ready-made milk-mawa powder which I purchased from the Indian grocery store and it works great. The end product is just like the ones you would get at a sweet mart in India 🙂 You could use regular khoya too, simply grate it (let it thaw if frozen) and follow the recipe. Enjoy these yummy, homemade kesar pedas this festive season 🙂
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE KESAR PEDA RECIPE
1.Soak saffron strands in 1 tablespoon of lukewarm milk for about 10 minutes. 2.Heat ghee in a non-stick pan. Once the ghee is warm, add in the milk, mawa powder, saffron infused milk, sugar & stir continuously to break any lumps. 3.The mixture will start bubbling. Keep stirring and scraping the sides to prevent the milk mixture from sticking at the bottom of the pan. 4.When most of the moisture is lost, add in the cardamom powder. Mix well. 5.After another 5-7 minutes, the mixture will almost form a dough. Pinch a small mixture and roll between your fingers to see if you can form a round smooth ball. be careful as the mixture is very hot. If you can form a ball, then switch off the heat, transfer the dough to a plate. If the mixture is still sticky then continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes on low heat. Once it is warm enough to handle, make pedas with greased hand. I used a fondant mold to create the flower shape.
HOW TO MAKE KESAR PENDA?
PIN IT FOR LATER
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