Malai peda is one of the most popular Indian mithai desserts. It is the most common Indian dessert for celebrations. Mithai is an Indian sweet made mainly of ingredients like flour, milk, sugar, nuts and ghee. Before the commercial era, countless hours were spent at home preparing these sweets.
Malai peda is made from whole, non-homogenized milk which, through a special curdling process, is transformed into a product with the consistency of khoya, called Malai which is then flavoured with cardamom and saffron.
The word Peda is generically used to refer to a mass of any pasty substance, such as flour or khoya. It is generally a sweet from the Indian subcontinent, originating from the city of Mathura, usually prepared in thick, semi-soft pieces.
The main ingredients are the solid part of the milk, sugar and traditional flavours. The colour varies from creamy white to caramel.
On Diwali, the festival of lights, here is a simple recipe for one of the typical sweets of this great holiday in India. Peda are very popular sweets typical of the Maharashtra region made with milk and sugar, flavoured with cardamom powder and garnished with pistachio, almond, candied fruit according to imagination and taste.
It is one of the easiest Indian sweets to make, especially during Diwali or any other festival or celebration. Peda is as simple as it is delicious, a perfect sweet for any occasion, it requires few ingredients and is a real delight.
This is the basic recipe which includes condensed milk and powdered milk as main ingredients.
Ingredients:
1 cup – milk powder
1 cup – condensed milk
A pinch – saffron
1 tablespoon – warm milk
1 tbsp – ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 tsp – cardamom powder
2 tablespoons - chopped pistachios/chopped dates
Method:
Finely chop the pistachios or almonds and soak the saffron in milk for 10 minutes. In a non-stick pan or kadai mix condensed milk and lump-free milk powder.
Put the pan on the stove on low heat and start stirring it. It is important that the heat is low and that you stir continuously because it can burn easily.
Add ghee, saffron milk, cardamom powder. Stir well and continuously on low heat until the mixture starts bubbling and thickening.
When it becomes thick and starts to come away from the pan, leave to cook for another 5/7 minutes, always stirring over a low flame.
Turn off the heat and let it cool before starting to handle it. Be careful not to touch it before you could burn yourself!
Knead the mixture to give it a smooth shape and divide it into 20/25 equal pieces.
Grease your hands with oil or ghee and roll each piece between your hands to form smooth balls, then press the center of the Peda with your thumb to give it its typical shape and if you like, garnish them by placing the pistachio/almond or with a piece of date, in the hole you created with your finger.
Here they are ready to be offered with tea!
