Ricotta Cheese Peda

Ricotta Cheese Peda is an easy Indian dessert prepared with 3 main ingredients - ricotta cheese, milk powder and sugar. With my instant recipe, you can make perfect ricotta cheese malai peda the easy way!

Peda or Penda are milk-based Indian sweets and an integral part of Indian cooking during festivities and celebrations.

They can also be called Indian milk fudge and are found in Indian sweet shops and Indian homes.

The traditional method requires milk to be simmered for a long time and reduced to milk solids. It is then mixed with sugar and rolled into small balls.

These are traditional doodh peda and are also known as Milk Peda or Rajwadi Peda.

The best part of preparing peda with ricotta cheese is that the long process of reducing milk the traditional way is cut out.

This recipe is definitely an easy version of the famous peda and takes less than 30 minutes!

Other easy recipes of peda are sometimes made with condensed milk and milk powder, thus are often called Milk Powder Peda.

I sometimes prepare these Instant Kesar Peda - an easy recipe made in the microwave in less than 5 minutes.

You can see more popular Indian sweets with milk to prepare for the Indian festival seasons or a special occasion.

What is Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta cheese is an Italian whey cheese made from cow, sheep and goat milk and "Ricotta" essentially means "recooked" in Italian.

Ricotta cheese recipes can be both sweet and savoury as it is a soft cheese.

I have used ricotta cheese instead of mawa for these Ricotta Malai Peda. Ricotta cheese has a soft texture similar to paneer or chhena. It is light and airy and is the perfect ingredient to make Malai Peda and Ricotta Cheese Kalakand

The texture of the pedas have similar texture to more traditional peda which have a smooth mouthfeel. They can also be transformed into Ricotta Malai Ladoo.

A recipe with similar texture would be Instant Kalakand which is prepared using paneer (Indian cottage cheese)

Ingredients

Full ingredients with measurements are available in the recipe card below at the end of this post

Ricotta cheese - the main ingredient for these easy peda recipe. Easily available in almost any large grocery store.

Since you must refrigerate it, you can find it in the cheese aisle or dairy section.

I used full-fat ricotta cheese.

Instead of ricotta cheese, you can use fresh homemade paneer

Milk powder - All milk peda recipe requires milk in some sort of form. I recommend you use full cream or full fat dry milk powder that is available easily in Asian and large grocery stores.

Sugar - To sweeten peda, use regular granulated sugar. You can adjust the sweetness level of these peda by reducing or increasing the amount.

Ghee - the taste of ghee in peda is amazing. We don't need it in a huge quantity, about two tablespoon of ghee is enough. If it's not on hand, not to worry but substitute it with unsalted butter.

Milk - you may need some whole milk to loosen the peda mixture depending on your ricotta. Use whole or at least semi-skimmed milk but not skimmed milk which has little bit fat content.

Double Cream (Optional) - double cream increases the fat content of the overall recipe leading to rich and creamy peda. I have added cream in my recipe.

Ground Cardamom - A must have spice in any Indian sweets for traditional flavorings. Simply crush some cardamom seeds using a pestle and mortar or use pre ground powder.

Optional

To make delicious Kesar Peda, soak saffron strands in a few tablespoon of milk or in the cream. Add this orange saffron milk to the ricotta mixture.

Pistachio slivers or crushed as a garnish. You can use other nuts (dry fruits) if you want. If want to keep it nut-free skip it totally.

Add a little mango pulp as a delicious variation.

Add cocoa powder to make Chocolate Peda.

Ricotta Cheese Peda Recipe

Here is how you can make peda using ricotta cheese. This recipe yields 20 peda

Heat ghee in a nonstick pan or heavy bottom pan on medium heat.

Add a cup ricotta cheese and allow the moisture or water from it to evaporate on a medium flame. This will take approximately 6-7 minutes but keep stirring.

Switch the heat to low then add milk powder. Follow with the cream if using.

Mix well and keep stirring on low heat for a couple of minutes. If the mixture appears to dry, pour a small amount of milk a little at a time.

The mixture should have a consistency that is just thicker than cake batter but looser than cookie dough.

Now add sugar and saffron (if using) and keep mixing until everything comes together and leaves sides of the pan. If adding any other flavourings, now is the time to add them.

Constant stirring is required all the time to prevent the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add cardamom powder and turn off the flame, keep mixing as the pan will be hot.

To check the right consistency, take a small portion of the mixture - it should soft enough so you can roll it easily but without sticking to your hand.

The mixture may appear loose but as it cools, it will thicken. If you make the peda dough too thick too early, you will end up with cracks in the penda as they are shaped.

Remove the peda mixture onto a greased plate or parchment paper.

Let it cool for a few minutes close to room temperature, then knead the mixture for 3-5 minutes to smooth the peda dough.

Divide the dough into equal portions and roll them into a smooth ball 

Peda traditionally have a round shape and often have a stamp design on the top. I used a peda press stamp.

Tips

It is important to use a non-stick pan to prevent the milk mixture from burning

Keep the heat on a low flame

Do not overcook the mixture - once it has reached the desired consistency remove from the heat. The peda will become hard and chewy and difficult to roll.

Experiment with different flavorings - add a few drops of essence

Peda should have minimal cracks - keep the dough loose and take the time to knead the dough.

Storage

Peda are best stored in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out.

They can be kept at room temperature and will last for 5 days in the UK or in cooler countries. If you live somewhere hot, you may want to keep them in the fridge.

Serve at room temperature.

Peda/Penda freeze well also if stored in an airtight container. To defrost, allow to thaw at room temperature. They will keep in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Other Peda Recipes

For a no sugar peda recipe, I have used 100% natural sweetener.

Mango Peda

Microwave Mawa Peda

3 minute Chai Peda

Rajkot na Peda - white peda found in Rajkot, Gujarat

Kesar Malai Peda - peda flavoured with saffron

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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Note - This recipe was posted on our blog on the 16th of February 2010 since I have updated the post with new content and pictures.