Indian cuisine · Desserts & Sweets

Peda

Flat milk discs made from reduced milk powder with saffron and cardamom, thumb-pressed and topped with pistachio.

Ingredients · for 6 servings

• 160 g milk powder
• 250 ml cream
• 120 g powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads
• 4 cardamom pods
• 40 g pistachios
• 2 tbsp whole milk

Instructions

1. Soak the saffron in the warm whole milk for 10 min. until it turns a strong yellow; crush the cardamom seeds in a mortar and finely chop the pistachios.
2. Melt 2 tbsp ghee in a wide non-stick pan, add the cream and warm it without letting it boil.
3. Whisk in the milk powder and cook the mixture over low heat for 8–10 min., stirring constantly, until it turns doughy and pulls away from the bottom of the pan.
4. Mix in the saffron milk and cardamom, stir for another 2 min., then tip the mixture onto a plate and let cool to hand-warm.
5. Sift in the powdered sugar and knead with the remaining ghee into a smooth, pliable dough; if it is too firm, add 1 tsp warm milk.
6. Shape the dough into 18–20 walnut-sized balls, flatten them, press a hollow into each with your thumb, sprinkle in the chopped pistachios and let the peda set in the fridge for 1 hour.