In just 20 minutes, this instant malai kesar peda comes together using milk powder, fresh cream, and fragrant saffron threads. This easy and quick peda recipe is perfect for special festive occasions when you are looking for a traditional Indian sweet.
Milk sweets are almost synonymous with Indian festivals, and one sweet dish that makes the most rounds is Kesar Peda. Its soft and melt-in-mouth texture makes it a delightful treat. Besides gulab jamun, motichoor ladoo, and barfis, you will always find kesar peda epitomizing the Indian tradition of serving classic sweets.
Here, in this post, we will learn about how to make malai kesar peda at home, with milk powder. With a handful of pantry staples, I will tell you how to nail this kesar malai peda recipe easily at your end through the recipe video.
Instant Malai Kesar peda recipe with milk powder
Most of the kesar peda recipes call for khoya or mawa. It is milk solid which is very popular in Indian sweet making. But you can easily make some kesar peda with milk powder, fresh cream, a touch of ghee or clarified butter and sugar.
Usually, during the festive season, we need to make these Indian sweets at home. And we all know how busy we are during that time of the year. Arranging the perfect dresses, getting the house in order, ordering the flowers, putting up the fanciest dinner table menu for the guests, and if you have kids, then multiply the stress by 10X. The chances are there that they want a particular dress for the day or aren’t in the mood for this.
So, making sweets while sweating bullets isn’t on your priority list, right? I think it is during this time that a recipe like this comes in handy.
All in all, 20 minutes of elbow grease and an hour of cooling will give you a neat bunch of Kesar-flavoured Pedas for your folks! And the best part is that you can make these ahead of time as they stay well for a week in your refrigerator.
Ingredients for Malai Kesar Peda
- Milk Powder
- Full-fat Milk or Cow’s Milk
- Ghee or Clarified Butter
- Fresh Cream
- Saffron
- Sugar
Recipe instructions to make Kesar Malai Pedas
These are also known as Kesar Malai Pedas as we use full-fat cream or malai. This helps bring richness and creaminess to these milk pedas. Here, we will combine the full cream milk with the milk powder, ghee, & cream to make some instant khoya or mawa for the milk pedas.
Homemade instant mawa or khoya recipe
- Soak the saffron in a teaspoon of lukewarm milk to activate the flavor.
- Next, we will begin with our instant khoya. Take a non-stick heavy bottom pan and keep it on medium-low flame.
- Add the ghee, milk, sugar, and fresh cream. Give it a good mix
- Now, add the milk powder and whisk so that it doesn’t form lumps. If it does, just try to mash them with the back of your spoon.
- Keep stirring for the next 10-15 minutes while mashing the lumps (if any) with the back of your spatula/spoon. Soon you will see that it has reduced in quantity. At this stage our instant khoya is ready.
Malai Kesar Peda using instant mawa
- Add the saffron-infused milk to this and combine everything. Keep the saffron threads aside for garnishing on the top. You can also pound some green cardamom and add the powdered seeds to the pedas for extra flavor
- Keep stirring till it leaves the sides of the pan and makes a smooth dough ball.
- Turn off the heat and take it out on a plate. Allow it to cool down a bit before dividing it into pedas.
- Take some ghee in your palms and grease well. Now, pinch off a ball from the dough and roll it between your palms. When it becomes smooth, slightly flatten them. Keep it on a plate lined with butter paper. Similarly, roll each of the pedas and keep it on the plate. Garnish with saffron threads kept aside earlier.
- Chill for an hour before serving.
In case you are looking for kesar peda recipe with condensed milk, simply substitute milk and sugar with half of the amount of condensed milk in this recipe
Making Indian sweets or mithais can be daunting, to begin with, but with the right recipe and perfect ingredients, you can pretty much nail it on your own. And the satisfaction of a successful mithai-making tryout is simply unbounded!
More traditional Diwali sweets recipes
- Gulab Jamun Recipe using Khoya – classic gulab jamun recipe using instant mawa
- Kesar Motichoor Ladoo Recipe – traditional Indian sweet for every auspicious occasion
- Besan Ladoo Recipe – healthy Indian sweet recipe using besan or gram flour
- Rajasthani Khasta Mewa Mawa Kachori Recipe – traditional Rajasthani sweet recipe of crispy kachoris filled with chopped dry fruits and mawa
- Instant Mawa Malpua Recipe – classic malpua using mawa or khoya
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In just 20 minutes, this instant kesar peda comes together using milk powder, fresh cream, and fragrant saffron threads. This easy and quick peda recipe is perfect for special festive occasions when you are looking for a traditional Indian sweet.
- 1 cup Milk Powder Full Fat
- ½ cup Fresh Cream Full Fat
- ¼ cup Milk Full Fat
- 2 tbsp Ghee or Clarified Butter
- 2 tsp Sugar Add extra of you prefer it sweeter.
- 1 pinch Saffron threads
Soak the saffron in a teaspoon of lukewarm milk.
Take a non-stick heavy bottom pan and keep it on medium-low flame.
Add the ghee, milk and fresh cream. Stir
Add the sugar and mix.
Now, add the milk powder and whisk so that it doesn't form lumps. If it does, just try to mash them with the back of your spoon.
Keep stirring for next 10-15 minutes while mashing the lumps (if any) with the back of your spatula/spoon. Soon you will see that it is has reduced in the quantity.
Add the saffron-infused milk into this and give it a mix. Keep the saffron threads aside for garnishing on the top.
Keep stirring till it leaves the sides of the pan and makes a smooth dough ball.
Turn off the heat and take it out on a plate.
Allow it to cool down a bit before dividing it into pedas.
Take some ghee in your palms and grease well. Now, pinch off a ball from the dough and roll between your palms. When it becomes smooth, slightly flatten them. Keep it on a plate lined with butter paper.
Similarly, roll each of the pedas and keep it on the plate. Garnish with saffron threads kept aside earlier.
Chill for an hour before serving.
This post was first published on August 9, 2020, and later republished on September 23, 2024, with a more elaborate description of the recipe.
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