Milk Peda Recipe also known as doodh peda, is a favorite Indian sweet made with mawa (milk solids) and flavored with cardamoms and assorted nuts. It’s so deliciously rich and creamy that it will melt in your mouth. Gluten-free and Vegetarian!
Looking for a sweet treat to celebrate your Independence day party then look no more. Here is a quick and simple recipe for a Tri-colored Milk Peda Recipe.
This milk peda is incredibly delicious, super easy to make, and so finger-licking delicious!
What does Peda mean?
Peda is the term used to define a fudge-type-cookie made with milk solids, sugar, and some flavorings like cardamom, rose, and saffron.
Why Ricotta cheese?
There are many ways to prepare the Milk peda recipe. But for this recipe, I have used ricotta cheese.
Unsalted Ricotta cheese is an excellent alternative to mawa. Ricotta is slowly simmered on a medium flame until all its moisture content is evaporated.
The creamy stuff that is left behind after evaporation is dehydrated milk solids, and that is great for making Indian sweets.
How to make Milk Peda Recipe?
For my upcoming Independence day potluck dinner, I decided to go with these pedas. It’s a straightforward recipe where mawa (made from ricotta cheese) is combined with the milk powder, sugar and is flavored with cardamom and saffron to form soft pedas.
To match these pedas to the Independence day theme, I chose to color them naturally.
- For saffron color (kesariya look): I have used saffron mixed with warm milk.
- For White color: I left the pedas as is.
- Likewise, for the green color: I have flavored milk pedas with Pista paste – though they were light in color but still matched up to the theme perfectly.
For deep -vibrant color, feel free to add a few drops of food color to these peads. Either way, these pedas are always a hit at a social gathering and will melt away in your mouth.
Tips to consider while making milk peda recipe!
- For this recipe, you can use homemade mawa or store-bought mawa.
- If using store-bought mawa, then that needs to be cooked with other ingredients for a few minutes to form rich and creamy pedas.
- Before adding milk powder and sugar to mawa, make sure the mixture is comfortably warm. If mawa is extremely hot, then wait for it to cool down. If milk powder and sugar are added to the hot mawa, then the mixture will become runny and difficult to work with.
- Peda dough feels sticky, grease your hands with ghee and try.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL MY FRIENDS!!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe. Feel free to contact me with any questions or inquiries, and I would be happy to answer them.
While you are here, visit these other festive sweets:
Milk Peda Recipe
INGREDIENTS
FOR PLAIN PEDAS
- 15 oz Ricotta Cheese (Use 1.5 cup of crumbled mawa instead of ricotta cheese)
- 1½ tablespoon Unsalted butter (or ghee)
- 2¼ cups Milk Powder
- ¼ cup Superfine Sugar + 1 tablespoon more
- 1 teaspoon Eliachi Powder (Cardamon Powder)
- 8-10 – Saffron strands
- 1 teaspoon Milk (use only if the peda dough feels dry)
- 2 tablespoon Mixed nuts – crushed pistachios and almonds (to garnish)
FOR TRI COLORED PEDAS
- 2 tablespoons Crushed Pistachios (for green color)
- ¼ teaspoon Saffron strands (saffron color)
- 2 teaspoons Warm milk
INSTRUCTIONS
PREPARING MILK PEDA
- Combine ricotta cheese and unsalted butter to a heavy bottom pan. Reduce heat to the LOWEST setting. Mix to combine. Keep stirring occasionally, to prevent the ricotta cheese from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan. Soon ricotta cheese will turn all liquid-y.
- Keep stirring till all the liquid from the ricotta cheese is evaporated and it looks dry like a ball of dough. The whole process will take about 20 -22 minutes.
- At this stage, mawa should look like a ball of thick creamy dough. Take it off the flame and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer the cooled mawa to a mixing bowl.
- Add milk powder.
- Add sugar.
- When comfortable to touch, knead the peda dough till it's smooth and forms a dough. Knead it well. Milk powder, when mixed with warm (not hot) mawa/ricotta cheese loses its raw taste and blends in flawlessly. If mawa feels cold, warm it in the microwave for 2 minutes and start kneading the dough.
- At this point check the sugar and adjust according to taste. If while kneading the dough feels sticky apply some ghee or butter to your hands and knead the dough.
- Once the peda dough is well blended and feels creamy when rolled in between the hands, it's time to shape them.
- Spread the dough on a clean surface. Use a cookie cutter or a small katori to make pedas.
- Sprinkle cardamom powder, saffron strands, and assorted nuts.
- Pedas are ready to enjoy!!
MAKING TRI COLORED PEDAS
- For pista paste – add crushed pista to a grinder, added 2 tablespoon of water and grounded it to a smooth paste.
- Divide the dough into equal parts.
- Separate the white peda dough. To the second dough add pista paste and knead it well.
- To the third dough, add saffron mixed with warm milk and knead it well.
- Tri colored peda dough is ready.
- Flatten the dough.
- Use a cookie cutter to shape the pedas.
- Shape and give it round edges and peda is ready.
- Repeat it with rest of the dough.
- Tri colored pedas are ready.
Michelle says
How long can I store these? In the fridge or elsewhere?
Ruchi says
Michelle,
These pedas stay good for a week in the refrigerator.
Mansi says
what about the water that separate from ricotta cheese? Do we have to tie Cheese in a cloth before mixing it with butter and put on stove?
Ruchi says
Mansi, everything thing gets cooked in the pan.
Cook the ricotta cheese on medium-low heat until all the moisture evaporates and it comes together like a non-sticky dough.
Yani says
can I make this cookies a day on advance of serving them? it would it affect the quality ?
Ruchi says
Yani, these are not cookies. It’s a milk fudge prepared with ricotta cheese. 🙂
And yes, it can be prepared a day in advance.
Isha says
Nice receive Can you please provide details of molds n stamp used.
Ruchi says
Thanks Isha.
Bought the stamps from amazon.
Nam says
Is there any substitute for milk powder?
Ruchi says
You can use khoya/mawa powder as a substitute.