Kesar peda is a delicious saffron infused milk fudge. Here’s an easy recipe to make delicious kesar peda this festive season!
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 🙂
Table of Contents
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?
Kesar Peda Recipe| Kesar Penda
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1 & 3/4 cup milk-mawa powder or 100 grams khoya, grated or crushed
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 6 tbsp sugar, adjust as per desired sweetness
- 1 tbsp lukewarm milk
- 12-15 strands of saffron
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 3/4 tsp green cardamom powder
Instructions
- Soak saffron strands in 1 tablespoon of lukewarm milk for about 10 minutes.
- 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.
- The mixture will start bubbling. Keep stirring and scraping the sides to prevent the milk mixture from sticking at the bottom of the pan.
- When most of the moisture is lost, add in the cardamom powder. Mix well.
- 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.
PIN IT FOR LATER
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Regards,
Freda
*Recipe loosely adapted from here
Pedas are something you always find on every Indian occasion being consumed or gifted. Your version looks amazing with the fondant mould making the pedas look like a beauty! Freda, too good!
Thanks, Vidya 🙂
I can’t find milk mawa powder and mawa. Can I use paneer.
Yeah I’ve mentioned in notes the substitute. you can use paneer and milk powder.
Freda, tried this peda today! I used light brown sugar instead of white. A few questions – how is the peda supposed to be? Very soft or more like a toffee! Mine tastes chewy like a toffee! It was little sticky after it cooled down and didn’t have a smooth texture! All help is appreciated as I want to try again!
It’s turned chewy because of the brown sugar. I recommend using regular sugar. Also did you use milk mava powder or just milk powder ? I’ve tried it before with plain milk powder and they turned chewy. Milk mava powder is different , if you can’t find that powder use 100 grams of solid mava, easily available in Indian Grocery stores if you live abroad. A peda is suppose to melt in the mouth, it is not chewy. Please let me know wat powder did you use, that would clarify things further:)
Darn!! Both the ingredients what I used was wrong! I used regular milk powder and brown sugar! Taste was good! Thank you so much for the clarifications
That’s why what guessed, been there done that 😀 hope you get the right ingredients, it will turn out fine 🙂