DULCE DE LECHE PEDA – पेड़ा

Back here to share festive goodies for the upcoming festival of Diwali. I reached out for a traditional yet easy-to-make dessert recipe. A couple of dulce de leche cans in my kitchen cabinet needed to be put to a scrumptious use before they reached their expiry date so I used my original recipe of malai peda (which uses condensed milk) and decided to make it with dulce de leche instead. Thanks to the dulce de leche, these pedas have a naturally caramelly taste which is yum! For those unfamiliar with dulce de leche, it is creamy and sweet, caramelised condensed milk (this is the best that I can describe it). It can be used as topping for ice cream or cake and as a filling for sandwich cookies. There are several other ways that you can use it but this is the basic. While peda is a melt-in-the-mouth kind of dessert which is made on festive occasions and for celebrations, possibly because it comes together fast and is a crowd pleaser. And what if I tell you that this dessert comes together in under fifteen minutes (i.e. the cooking part). Of course it is indulgent but you should know by now, if you are a regular here, that all through the year we watch our diet and eat ‘healthy’ but for festivities we do not refrain from sharing or consuming rich desserts! You can make these peda a day or two ahead of Diwali and it will stay well in the fridge for four to five days stored in an air tight container. This one is soft and has a wee bit chewy texture, but very moreish.

3 tbsp Milk

1 can (380 grams) Dulce de Leche

2 C Milk Powder

½ tsp Cardamom Powder (optional)

3 tsp Ghee plus extra for greasing

Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and add ghee and milk. Once the ghee melts, add in the dulce de leche and milk powder.

Cook for a minute, stirring continuously, to bring everything together. Cook for approximately six to seven minutes on low heat or till the ingredients begin to thicken and leave the sides of the pan in one mass.

Remove the pan from heat and set aside. Allow it to come to a temperature where you can deal with the heat to begin shaping the peda.

Make equal sized balls and flatten it half way and then and make an impression over it with a press stamp. Or you can take any mould of your choice and shape pedas accordingly.

(Traditionally pedas are meant to be round and then flattened slightly, with a nut or raisin placed in the centre for aesthetic)

You can store it in the fridge for a week, in an air tight container. It tastes best at room temperature.

Yield – 24 peda

Note – My stock of dulce de leche comes from America (thanks to family and friends) since this one happens to be the best that I have used so far. An Indian brand does sell it, but it is not even half way close to the one that I use. However, you can easily make it at home if you wish to. It is worth the effort however it is rich and sweet laden so reserve it for occasional use.

Thank you so much for your visit and see you soon again with another exciting recipe! 

3 thoughts on “DULCE DE LECHE PEDA – पेड़ा

  1. I’ve never tried peda, but as a HUGE fan of dulce de leche, I’ll need to try this. The dessert looks fabulous!

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