A small thing of joy is to eat a doodh pedha. It is one of the most popular sweets sold in sweet shops. Imagine a big line of pedhas lined up on the other side of the counter. There are so many versions of this pedha, kesar-elaichi, elaichi, pista-kesar and so on. The ones that you get in Nandini (a milk brand in Karnataka) are pure milk pedhas. The marking on them makes the pedhas even more inviting. Try making these soft doodh pedhas at home, roll them up into small balls or pedhas/pedhe or even try and make the Nandini replicas. I used a fork to create a Nandini shop/bakery like pedha with a fork. It is actually a reverse of their shape (complementary shape). I love them nonetheless, they are milk pedhas after all.
Here are I have used only milk and there is also a short-cut recipe with condensed milk which I will post soon. I have flavoured them with elaichi/cardamom, I wanted to make them plain this time. I sometimes add kesar/saffron or pista or both but elaichi/cardamom is something that I always add to the pedhas/pedhe. I have added a lot of pictures stepwise to show consistency in each step.
- 1 Litre full cream milk (I have used Jersey cow's milk)
- ¼ Cup sugar
- ¼ Cup yogurt
- 7-8 elaichi/cardamom
- 1 Tsp ghee
- In a thick bottomed pan, smear ghee all over
- Pour milk and let it come to a boil on low flame
- Add sugar and let it reduce to half. Keep scraping of the milk solids from the side
- Keep boiling, add 2 tbsp yogurt, mix, milk starts curdling
- Add remaining yogurt and keep heating till all of the milk curdles
- Let all liquid evaporate
- Let it cool, grind milk solids
- Add elaichi powder. Mix well
- Chill for sometime. Make pedhas. Use any mould to make pedhas or even roll them mini pedhas just by hand
- Let them sit for sometime at room temperature to completely dry. Enjoy the milky goodness
Use ONLY fresh full fat cream milk. Other types of milk do not work well
Add little more sugar if you want. I like milk pedhas a little less sweet
Add a very small pinch of freshly grated nutmeg/jaiphal/jaakayi for a unique flavour
Some recipes also mention the use of lemon juice to make pedhas but their taste will not be as authentic as the ones made with yogurt
Add few strands of kesar/saffron if you want to make kesar elaichi pedhas
If the mixture feels very sticky to roll into pedhas, chill for some more time and try again. Milk solids absorb a lot of moisture as they are chilled
Do not forget to smear pan with ghee. It prevents milk solids from sticking to the pan
Stepwise:
In a thick bottomed pan, smear ghee all over
Pour milk and let it come to a boil on low flame
Add sugar and let it reduce to half. Keep scraping of the milk solids from the side
Keep boiling, add 2 tbsp yogurt, mix, milk starts curdling
Add remaining yogurt and keep heating till all of the milk curdles
Let all liquid evaporate
Let it cool, grind milk solids
Add elaichi powder. Mix well
Chill for sometime. Make pedhas. Use any mould to make pedhas or even roll them mini pedhas just by hand
Let them sit for sometime at room temperature to completely dry. Enjoy the milky goodness
