Dharwad Peda, also called as pedha or pera is a soft milk fudge dessert from Indian subcontinent. The main ingredients include khoya,sugar and cardamom powder or saffron strands.

Just like ladoos, pedas are offered as Prasad in Hindu Religion. Earlier I had prepared Goan Dudh pedha which is of harder consistency and today,  prepared this delicious and soft pedhas called Dharwad peda or kandi peda. Dharwad pedas are famous in Dharwad region, which is situated at the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka. These are specially made during weddings.

I have always bought these sweets from market , but thought of giving it a try in my kitchen .  I have prepared these pedhas using homemade crumbled paneer or Indian Ricotta Cheese. The process how to make ricotta cheese is explained below in my recipe . You can also use khoya for this recipe to save time. Just make sure that the process is  constantly attended,  otherwise pedas will get burnt smell if the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Of course it is time consuming thing to prepare any kind of pedas at home from scratch, but the final outcome is just fabulous. So let us see how to make Dharwad Peda from scratch.

Preparation Time: 20 Minutes

Cooking Time: 2 Hours

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4  Litre Full fat milk + 1/2 Cup Extra
• 2-3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 3 Teaspoons Ghee / Clarified Butterr
• 7 Tablespoons of white granulated Sugar + little more for dusting

Method:

Let us see how to make ricotta cheese from scratch.

Start by boiling 1 litre full fat milk in a medium saucepan on high heat. Once it comes to complete boil, make the heat low. Make sure that milk doesn’t overflow.

Now keep adding lime juice 1 tablespoon at a time.  Milk will curdle and the greenish whey will separate. Keep stirring simultaneously as you add juice. Stop when you see milk is properly curdles with solid bits forming  and separating easily . Remove from the heat.

Pour it in a strainer lined with muslin cloth kept over a saucepan  in order to separate ricotta cheese from the greenish whey. Get all the sides of the cloth together and tie a knot. Hang it somewhere and let all the whey drip down . Keep it that way for about 15-20 minutes.

Open the cloth and remove paneer(ricotta cheese) . You can use the whey drained in the saucepan for making chapati dough or smoothies . Store it in the refrigerator and use whenever you need.

Take the paneer in a nonstick saucepan and add a teaspoon of ghee. Keep it on medium heat. Keep breaking the paneer using spoon for about 10-15 minutes. When paneer is dry and grainy stop cooking.

Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup milk and 7 tablespoons sugar. Grind this mixture  to smooth paste and pour it back in the saucepan.

Now you really require patience for the next steps. Start cooking the paste on medium heat. Stir continuously. Keep it breaking as it cooks. Slowly the paste will  form a lump.  Once the mixture becomes dry, add some milk and the rest of the ghee.

Keep stirring .Make sure the flame is on medium heat. Whenever you see the mixture is becoming too dry , keep adding milk little at a time and continuing the cooking process with non-stop stirring. Slowly the color will change .

When you see it all browned up and grainy, remove from heat, that is the last stage of peda mixture. Add cardamom powder and mix.It took me exactly 2 hours to reach this consistency.  Once it cools down, pulse it in the grinder for a few seconds. If you see that the mixture is too dry and you won’t be able to shape them into pedas, then add about 2-3 tablespoons of milk while pulsing in the grinder.

Remove on a plate. Take a lemon size mixture on you palm and give it an uneven oval shape. Repeat for all.

Finally, take some granulated sugar in a bowl and roll these pedas in the sugar , coating them on all the sides.

And Dharwad peda is all ready to be distributed.

Notes :

1. In order to get maximum ricotta cheese from milk, make sure that the milk is curdled well. The whey should be transparent with milk transformed into small bits which can be easily separated.
2. Store the pedas in air tight container . They can last for upto a week.

 [mpprecipe-recipe:21]

If you Liked this, look out for more Sweets and desserts, which you can make right in your kitchen .

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